The Neptune Job (aka Heirs and Graces)
by Ultrawoman
Summary: August 2009. Logan Echolls always wanted a real family, so when Cliff discovers there may be a long lost half-sister out in the world, Logan, Veronica & Mac are determined to find her. Meanwhile, the Leverage crew have a job that has them bound for LA, but before they can take down the bad guys, Hardison is worried a hacker is on Parker's electronic trail. An 8 part crossover fic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This was originally written for the Leverage Crossover Big Bang at LiveJournal. I had the idea such a long time ago and the Cross Bang made me want to buckle down and write it. Somehow I never posted here and now just felt like the time, since I've been missing my Leverage and Veronica Mars muses for a while. Hope anyone who reads it enjoys it :)**

_**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from Leverage belong to John Rogers, Dean Devlin, Chris Downey, TNT, and other folks that aren't me. All recognisable characters from Veronica Mars belong to Rob Thomas and other folks that aren't me. Any unrecognisable characters are mine, all mine!**_

Chapter 1

_August 12th, 2009, 05:11 PST - Neptune, California._

There were bells ringing somewhere, far away at first and then much closer. Veronica Mars wanted to pretend she didn't hear them, block them out and hope they went away, but it wasn't working. Sleep was slipping away from her at an alarming rate, and all too soon her eyes were open staring at vivid red numbers on the digital clock atop the nightstand. They said it was just after five in the morning.

With a groan, she pulled herself up, not really surprised to find that her boyfriend was sleeping on, in spite of the phone ringing long and loud just inches from his head.

"Logan Echolls, I swear you could sleep through a nuclear war," she sighed as she reached past him for the offending phone and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" she said groggily.

"Ah, Miss Mars," the girl from the front desk of the Neptune Grand greeted her, "I'm so sorry disturb you but I have an urgent call for Mr Echolls, from a Mr McCormack."

"Cliff?" Veronica frowned, wondering what on Earth the local public defender and her own family's friend wanted with her boyfriend. "Um, just a minute," she said, shaking herself from a stream of ideas and panic as her boyfriend stirred at her side.

"What's going on?" he asked as he came to. "Veronica?" he said, rubbing his eyes and just now focusing on the look of concern on her face.

"Reception has Cliff McCormack on the phone," she explained, handing over the receiver, "Apparently it's urgent."

Now came the wait as Logan pulled himself up and tried to be aware enough to take this call that was apparently important. As awful as it sounded even in her own head, Veronica's biggest was concern was that their lives were about to be turned upside down by another accusation. Though she was pretty sure there was nothing Logan could be arrested for, it wouldn't be the first time it happened for no good reason. Of course, it seemed unlikely Cliff, a lawyer, would be calling for that, rather two deputies would be at the door of his home (a.k.a. the Neptune Grand Presidential Suite) to take him away for questioning.

The look on Logan's face wasn't giving much away, no matter how good Veronica Mars was at reading people. She could see confusion and surprise in his features, but that was to be expected. Lawyers didn't call at five in the morning for nothing, and the longer the unhelpful one-sided conversation went on, the more the little blonde P.I. was starting to freak out. She could hardly contain herself when Logan hung up the phone, desperate to know what had just been said.

"Okay," he said, leaning back against the headboard a moment after replacing the phone receiver in the cradle, "Uh... that was Cliff," he said pointlessly, since Veronica already knew that. "He just got a call about a woman who died. She, she used to know my Dad."

"Okay," Veronica nodded once, "So she knew Aaron, I don't understand why that matters now. It's been years since he..." she stopped short of using the D word, even though on some level Logan would always be just a little glad his murderous father was gone.

"That's kinda why Cliff called me," Logan explained, though his eyes stared unseeing at the opposite wall even as he continued to speak. "They opened up a safety deposit box, the one that belonged to this woman... to Grace Carmicheal," he went on, pinching the bridge of his nose as if he felt a headache coming on. "They found a letter addressed to my father and apparently with him gone, they've decided I should have it."

"Oh," said Veronica, not really sure what to follow it up with.

Anything to do with Aaron tended not to be good. When they were kids, she knew the evil old man beat on his son and on his wife too. As teens they'd found out he had not only slept with Logan's girlfriend, Lilly, but also subsequently killed her, only to escape justice and be set free despite his obvious guilt. That was when Clarence Wiedman had cleaned up the mistake, courtesy of Lilly's family, but it didn't take away the pain Aaron had caused. Not to mention the secret son he had, who had come to light during their Freshman year of college. That had been an almighty mess too. Thankfully, these past two years and more had run pretty smooth, at least since Veronica and Logan had got over their differences and reunited. The memory of Aaron faded somewhat and here they were, enjoying their summer together before Senior year of college, hoping that all the badness of their teen years was way, way behind them. Now it was starting to seem that things would take a turn for the worse again.

"How many scenarios do you have running through your head right now?" asked Logan as he looked across at his crime-solving girlfriend. "I mean, what could possibly be in a letter like that?"

"I don't know," the blonde shook her head, pushing her hair out of her face as she thought on it some. "Maybe there's something she wanted him to have when she was gone," she mused. "Maybe there was something she just always wanted to say to him but never had the nerve... y'know, out of fear?" she said with a knowing look.

"Maybe," he echoed the word, since everything was going to be uncertain until they actually saw this mystery letter. "McCormack's pretty shaken up by it."

"He read it?" asked Veronica with a frown.

"I guess he thought he could, with my Dad gone," shrugged Logan, not really phased by it. "I probably asked him to deal with anything that came up... I don't remember," he waved a hand in a vague gesture, before turning to swing his legs out of the bed.

Veronica might've asked what he was doing, but after all this time she knew him well enough she didn't need to. This thing was going to play on Logan's mind until he knew everything, just as the curiosity would kill her too. They were going to the lawyer's office now, regardless of the early hour, and they were going to find out the truth, because that's what they always did.

_August 12th, 2009, 13:24 EST - Boston, Mass._

"So it's not Area 51, but there is an Area 50?" Parker checked she had her facts straight, around a mouthful of Eliot's delicious stir-fry. "And that's where the spaceships are?!" she gasped, all excitement and intrigue as usual.

"Sweetie, please," Sophie urged her. "Swallow your food before you ask anymore. I'm wearing more of your lunch than you've actually eaten!" she grimaced.

"Sorry," the thief was quick to say, spitting a tiny piece of pepper at her friend before swallowing hard. "All gone," she declared, showing the entire table her empty mouth then.

"There's something wrong with you," muttered Eliot at her childish behaviour. "Didn't anybody ever teach you table manners?"

"No," the thief replied like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Now, tell me more about the aliens!"

"Well, y'know, that's what the Loch Ness Monster probably is," Hardison considered, causing Parker to whip her head around to face him instead of the hitter by her side. "How else do explain a thing that big-ass scary in a Scottish lake?"

"Can we please talk about something else?" asked Nate, pinching the bridge of his nose like he felt a headache coming on. "Anything else? Like a job, or sports, or... anything?" he tried again.

It was a struggle not to go back to hitting the bottle, it was always going to be, he supposed. There was no such thing as an ex-alcoholic, only a recovering or functioning one. Nathan Ford just had to keep on fighting the urge, which was a whole lot easier to do when the 'kids' on his team weren't fighting or talking crazy.

"Nate, we only just finished _this_ job," Sophie complained. "Don't you think we could use a little break, even if just for the weekend?"

Nobody else seemed willing to jump in on what might well turn into an argument. As if things weren't strained enough between the mastermind of their Robin Hood team and his right-hand grifter. Their never-quite-a-romance was complicated enough. When they got into team politics, all the others were prepared to do was sit back and watch the fireworks rather than get into the middle of it.

"The world never stops turning, Sophie," he told her not actually looking up from the food he was picking at but not eating. "Somebody always needs help, and that's what we do now, isn't it? Help people who need us?"

"You got anyone specific in mind?" asked Eliot.

For himself, it really wasn't a problem if they swung into a new job straight away. It was different if he'd suffered in any serious way but the fighting had been minimal on this last job and half the time he'd taken on Hardison's job behind the computer. He was no hacker like his friend, and honestly, if he didn't get his regular dose of hitting bad guys, he just got antsy.

"I have," the mastermind nodded once, deciding just to put the fork down and give up on the food right now. "One small problem. The client is in California, outskirts of Los Angeles to be precise."

"Oh no, man. No way!" Hardison began to protest. "Less than a year ago we was in L.A., watching our own offices blow sky high thanks to James Sterling and your old buddies at IYS. Then we pulled that two Davids job. If we show our faces there now..."

"Calm down, Hardison," Eliot urged him. "Let's hear about the job and check out the players before you get your panties in a bunch."

Parker laughed out loud at that comment, her over-active imagination putting the hacker in bunched panties and nothing else all too easily. It was a genuinely hilarious sight in her mind's eye. She might've gone on a whole lot longer if Sophie hadn't swiftly encouraged her to calm down.

A few minutes later the team were all gathered around the six-part screen on the back wall, whilst Nate spoke quietly to Hardison and the hacker started pulling up details from the Internet and such. Eliot, Parker, and Sophie shared the couch, asking questions about what this new job might entail. It was all pretty normal for the Leverage crew, until suddenly Parker shuddered violently for no apparent reason.

"What the hell, Parker?" asked Eliot with a look that was equal parts annoyance and concern - it was his usual expression when looking at the thief.

"I don't know," she admitted, frowning herself as she considered it. "It was like... I don't know," she repeated when she realised she couldn't explain the strange feeling that passed through her then; it was just so weird.

_August 12th, 2009, 06:31 PST - Neptune, California._

"This better be good, McCormack," said Logan without any kind of real greeting as he cleared the door of the lawyers office, one hand gripping Veronica's own.

"I would hardly have called at such an hour if it wasn't," his lawyer said definitely, rounding the desk with papers in his hand and nodding a greeting to the blonde.

Veronica wasn't sure what they were going to see when the letter was handed over, but given that it all led back to Aaron Echolls, she wondered if she really wanted to know. To her surprise, Logan didn't take the letter from Cliff's hand, just shook his head and dropped himself into a chair, prompting his girlfriend to do the same.

"Explain to me again why I'm here for a dead woman's last letter to daddy dearest?" asked Logan seriously. "What gives, Cliff? Aaron's been dead for three years now."

"The woman that wrote this letter, a Grace Carmichael," he began to explain, seating himself on the front edge of the desk. "She wasn't exactly of stable mind."

"She was mentally ill?" Veronica checked with a frown.

"Yes and no," Cliff tried to explain. "Our Ms Carmichael was heavily into drugs, living on the streets for a not small portion of the time... Perhaps I should just read the letter to you?" he suggested.

When no argument came from the pair, Cliff cleared his throat to begin.

"_Dear Aaron, if you're reading this then the worst has happened and I'm dead. I doubt you'll care much..."_

"Spare me the sob story drama," Logan sighed then. "If there's something in this letter that matters, just skip to the details," he encouraged the lawyer, snapping his fingers to dictate the speed he was after.

Veronica gripped her boyfriend's hand tighter. He was only being so obnoxious because this had to do with Aaron. This meeting was about all the touchiest subjects for Logan; his father, all Aaron had done wrong in his life, and his untimely but completely justified death. She only hoped Cliff wasn't about to make matters worse by adding to the store of pain Logan was already having to get over where his Dad was concerned.

"Okay..." the lawyer nodded once, flipping over the letter in his hand and finding the most relevant paragraph, then continuing reading aloud. "_I know it would've been easier to get it taken care of, I know that's what you would've wanted but I couldn't do it. After she was born, I just couldn't deal. I handed our daughter over to the adoption agency, and I never saw her again"_

"What?" Logan gasped in abject shock, his hand going to his face as he tried to take in what he was hearing here.

"What this means, Logan, is that Aaron might very well have had a daughter he never met," Cliff explained succinctly. "And she might just still be out there somewhere, completely oblivious to where she came from."

_August 12th, 2009, 15:27 EST - Boston, Mass._

Eliot was actually starting to wonder why he was climbing the roof access ladder in Nate's apartment block. Maybe he was crazy but then that would be about right these days given the team he had fast become a part of. A couple of years ago he was the epitome of lone wolf. Now there were these people around him and as much as it pained him to admit it, Eliot had come to care about all of them.

When it had proven boring waiting for Hardison to find all the relevant information of their latest job, the team decided to go their separate ways for the night. A little rest and relaxation, a little alone time too, it was all good as far as the members of team Leverage were concerned. Nate stayed at the apartment but left his hacker alone to do his 'sweet funky' as he was currently referring to it. Hardison was best left to his own devices when he was busy anyway.

Sophie had decided she needed a little retail therapy and gone off shopping whilst Eliot had said he would deal with the dishes from lunch and then probably head to the gym. Somewhere in amongst all this, Parker had disappeared. Not that it was so shocking for her to do that. She could quite literally appear in a room and disappear just the same without anyone seeing her entry or exit. This was different somehow, and Eliot couldn't help but wonder if something was going on with Parker, more than she was letting on.

When he was done with the dishes, Eliot didn't even bother to say goodbye to Hardison or Nate, the former was so engrossed in his hacking he was talking to himself and the latter had gone to his room to read, apparently. Eliot had made to leave the apartment but stopped short at the stairs. He didn't know why he thought so, but something told him Parker hadn't strayed too far. It was instinct, he guessed. The roof was the little thief's preferred location when she was upset, lonely, or similar. Heights were her friend, that much Eliot had learnt, somewhere between the base jumping and rappelling. It was why he wasn't at all surprised when his usually good instincts proved right once again and he came up onto the roof to find her sat right there by the edge.

Mindful of startling her, even though it ought to be impossible, he didn't call her name, just strode across the space between them. She reacted only when he was within two steps.

"I thought you went home," she said flatly. "How'd you even know I was up here?"

"Maybe you're becoming predictable, darlin'," he smirked as he moved to sit down beside her. "Or maybe I know you well enough by now to see when something's up. What gives, Parker?" he asked her straight then. "I know people like us, we like to hide what's wrong. I'm as guilty of that as anyone, but if it's a real problem..."

"It's not," she shook her head, letting out a deep sigh. "I'm fine, I just... I don't know. I guess sometimes I just start thinking about how everybody else had this normal life, y'know, when they were a kid? Sometimes it makes me wonder..."

"Makes you wonder, what?" he prompted when she fell silent.

Parker's eyes shifted from the distant horizon to meet Eliot's a moment, then she promptly looked away again. There was a long pause in which he just watched the wind whipping her loose hair around her face, and finally she told him what was really wrong.

"You think if I'd've had two parents, _real_ parents, and a family and everything, you think I'd be normal?" she asked then. "You think you'd have less excuses to tell me there's something wrong with me?"

Eliot had no doubt in his mind at all that the last thing she was trying to do here was fish for either compliments or an apology. If she was badly hurt by the things he said, she'd make it clear enough. Parker always said what she thought, or she stabbed you with a fork and ran for the hills. No, what she was asking here was real and genuine, and just exactly the questions she put to him were the things she wanted answered. Unfortunately, there was no right answer for him to give.

"Darlin', I had two parents, good folks, plus a sister, a nice home, the whole works," he told her as she looked sideways at him. "You think I turned out normal?"

Parker just shrugged her shoulders at that, her eyes returning to the horizon.

"The truth is, none of us is normal," Eliot went on, pushing his hair back off his face when the wind blew it sideways. "I don't think anybody in the world can be, 'cause there is no normal. Everybody's just trying to deal with their past, make it through today, and try not to worry too much about what's coming up in the future."

The silence that followed was as unreadable as Parker's expression right now. Eliot wasn't sure if he'd helped or made matters worse. Fact was, he had approached this just exactly as he always approached everything, head on. Parker almost managed to startle the unshakeable hitter then as she stood up suddenly and patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Eliot," she sort of smiled, and then she was walking away and back down the hatch before he even had time to react.

Apparently, they were done talking for now.

_To Be Continued..._

**A/N2: There are 8 chapters to this thing and they all need formatting and such before they get posted, hence not doing it all at once, but it'll be pretty quick appearing, at least that's the plan :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 2

_August 12th, 2009, 10:15 PST - Neptune, California._

"This is insane," said Veronica, stabbing the keys of her computer keyboard, as if that would improve the search results.

"Really? There's a part of this that isn't?" her boyfriend asked, running a hand back through his hair as he continued to pace.

They had come straight back to the hotel room from Cliff's office and immediately Veronica had pulled out the computer. Logan needed answers that nobody seemed to have, and the young P.I. was determined to help with that. Internet searches, finding people, she did this all the time. Sure, a lost half-sister that nobody knew existed until today was a long shot, but it shouldn't be so hard. After four hours of all possible searches, she was coming up decidedly empty.

"I'm just... out of ideas," said Veronica honestly, her hands spread wide as she shrugged. "I mean, this is what I do! It should be easy enough, but this girl just doesn't seem to exist."

Logan didn't know what to think. He always believed that biologically he was an only child. Trina was his half-sibling at best and then a few years ago they discovered she was adopted all along. Then there was Charlie Stone, the child of one of Aaron's many affairs. Logan could have had a half-brother then if he hadn't royally screwed his chances. He had quite decided at that point he must be alone in the world when it came to family. He built a new one around himself; his best friend Dick, his girlfriend Veronica, her father Keith, it worked okay. Now he had evidence to say there was an older half-sister out there in the world that nobody could even track down, not even his super-sleuth partner in solving crime.

"There's nothing else you can do?" he asked his girlfriend helplessly as he dropped down onto the couch beside her.

"I really don't know," she replied sadly, letting her head fall onto his shoulder. "There's just so little to go on. I mean, from the information in Grace Carmichael's letter, the baby was born in 1982."

"Which means this woman is, what? Twenty seven now?" Logan checked his math was correct, and Veronica nodded along.

"Yes, since she had a birthday a couple of months back," she agreed. "Based on the date of birth and the fact Grace hailed from the mid-west, I'm able to narrow it down at least a little on the birth records," she explained, showing Logan the list she had pulled up from before. "All these children fit the bill, until we narrow it down further. Filter by mother's name, ethnicity, the usual factors, and we end up with a much shorter list," she demonstrated.

"So how do we get down from twenty something to one?" asked her boyfriend eagerly. "Or is that the part where it gets impossible?"

"Actually, no," Veronica admitted. "I can narrow the search down to just one child with the information we have and some educated guesses," she explained.

Logan's eyes watched the screen flip time and time again as Veronica entered each pertinent piece of information into the system. In the end, only one name remained, Grace Carmichael II by the seem of things. Unfortunately, as he looked hopefully to Veronica, he noticed her fallen expression and sad eyes remained.

"And that's where the dead end comes? Right when we just found her?" he asked, knowing he would disbelieve if anyone else were telling him this.

Veronica didn't lie to him, that he knew for sure. Besides, the look of pain on her face was enough to prove how much she really wished she could help more.

"I can trace her to an adoption agency, onto her first foster home," she proved with the evidence appearing on the screen one piece at a time. "Unfortunately, this kid turns age six and then... boom," she demonstrated with her fingers splayed like an explosion. "She's gone."

"Are we sure she didn't... Is she still alive?" he checked, hating the idea that just when he got another shred of hope at family he was about to lose it again this fast.

"I really wish I knew, Logan," Veronica sighed, pushing her hair back off her face. "There's no registered death under the name Grace Carmichael that matches her age, at least not anywhere where I can find it," she shook her head. "Outside of the U.S. is harder to track, but if she left the country she had to go with adopted parents, or foster parents... I just don't know where to go from here, Logan, and I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," he smiled bravely, though she knew damn well how much he was actually hurting. "I mean, can't miss a sister I never really had, right?" he shrugged.

"I am not giving up this easily, no way," his girlfriend told him definitely. "Veronica Mars is not a quitter, and if I can't find anything myself I'll..." she stopped too fast and that made Logan frown.

"You'll, what?" he asked curiously, wondering why she changed her mind about speaking so abruptly.

"Well, when I get stuck with stuff like this, government firewalls and sealed stuff in my way, I call Mac," she admitted. "There's almost nothing she can't find with her sources and her hacking skills," she explained then. "I just, I wasn't sure you'd want anyone else involved in this."

Logan looked thoughtful a moment and then let out a long breath.

"I trust Mac," he told her honestly. "I mean, I don't know her as well as you do, but you have faith in her so... Is trusting by proxy a thing?" he asked, almost completely seriously.

"I don't know," Veronica admitted. "Probably not, but that never stopped us before," she smiled, leaning in to kiss his lips.

It was sweet that he trusted her friend just because she did. Plus it made her feel like she wasn't completely useless being able to call Mac and ask for her help. One way or another, they were going to track this mystery sister down. Veronica was determined about that!

_August 12th, 2009, 23:14 EST - Boston, Mass._

Hardison was going video blind after so long staring at his computer screen. Even the experienced hacker had his limitations, and he was fast reaching them. He had pretty much swung out of the Monica Hunter job into research for this one, without so much as a good night's sleep in between. Mainlining orange soda and gummy frogs only worked for so long and his concentration was just now starting to wane.

He had compiled an awful lot of information on this potential new case on the outskirts of L.A. It would be risky going back to where they previously burned a whole lot of bridges, but the case was compelling enough, he doubted they could really stand to turn it down. Sure, the team came off as a soulless bunch at times, but the truth was, they call cared about people. They loved each other like family these days, even if they didn't like to actually say it. When it came to clients, it was hard not to become a little involved, even at this early stage when Hardison was still pulling together the details. Reading about the bad things done to a person, the awful crimes others had committed, it made his stomach churn and his blood boil. Today was no different.

Far as Hardison could tell, the bad guys were definitely living up to type. Business types that screwed over the little man, it was what the Leverage crew specialised in. As it was, the debts they'd managed to plunge innocent people into had led to not only poverty but also marriage breakdowns and even suicide. These people needed to be avenged, and that was what they would do.

As much as the cause was worthy, Hardison knew he had to give up on the work for now. He needed sleep, that was the cold hard truth. Tomorrow he could talk things through with Nate, and the mastermind could form a plan, calling the team in when he was good and ready. The hacker started filing away his research and packing up his stuff, gaping at the clock when he realised it was practically midnight already. No wonder he was dog tired!

Just as he was about to shut down the computer system, an alarm sounded in his pocket. It was a distinctive sound that could only mean one thing, and yet he could hardly believe it. Now on his feet, Hardison pulled the cell from his back pocket and gasped. Even in his tired state he had correctly identified the alarm that meant somebody was tracking one of the team, either by one of their supposedly air-tight aliases or worse their real identity.

Immediately dropping back onto the couch and logging back into his computer, Hardison's fingers flew across the keyboard. His eyes were wide and his whole brain in panic when he realised the truth of what he was seeing here. Somebody was looking for one of them alright. The truth was they were doing a pretty good job of it too.

"NATE!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, three times in fact before finally the mastermind came tripping down the spiral staircase with a hand to his head.

"Hardison, what the hell...?" he began to ask, only to be unceremoniously cut off by the hacker's frantic yelling.

"Man, we got serious trouble here!" he told the older man definitely. "Somebody comin' after Parker!"

_August 12th, 2009, 17:12 PST - Neptune, California._

"Veronica, this woman has more aliases than you do!" declared Mac as she continued to search the web like the deft hacker she really was.

"I don't have _that_ many," the P.I. defended herself as she came to sit beside her friend again. "Besides, that's not the focus right now," she added with a look.

Mac couldn't help the smirk on her lips as she continued her search. She had gotten further than Veronica in the great search for Grace Carmichael Jnr. but still not done as well as Logan had hoped. Okay, so they were only a few short hours into the process but what Mac couldn't find quickly, she probably couldn't find at all.

"Hey," said Logan as he appeared then.

He had decided to go out to the store, mostly as an excuse just to get out of the suite. Mac was doing her best but he knew he wasn't helping her concentration by hanging around asking questions. He took himself out for no particular reason and came back now with more than anyone expected him to bring.

"Logan... and Dick," said Veronica in surprise as she looked up from the computer screen. "Um, are we sharing stories?" she asked as tactfully as she could.

"He knows," her boyfriend confirmed with a single nod as he walked around back of the couch and propped himself on the arm. "Dick's my BFF. How would I not tell him about my mystery sister?"

"It's not like I'm gonna tell the whole world," said Dick with an eyeroll as he threw himself into the nearby armchair. "Besides, this chick might be hot, and Dick needs to know about new hotties coming to Neptune."

"Apparently, Dick also needs to refer to himself in the third person," noted Veronica as she looked his way. "And I thought there was some guy code about not hitting on a friend's sister?"

"Dude! She's his _half_ sister who he never even met!" Dick exclaimed. "Logan would be totally cool with that, right, man?"

Logan looked non-committal and decided his attention was better focused on Mac right now. He dipped his hand into the bag he'd come in swinging and handed her the contents.

"I don't know if these are still your preference," he said.

She took the Dr Pepper and Red Vines from him with a smile.

"Your memory serves you well, young Padawan," she told him. "Thank you."

Logan didn't ask about the geek comment, he just let it slide by. Even he understood a solid Star Wars reference, and besides, Mac was doing him a huge favour here. She could hang naked from the chandeliers if it made her happy, so long as she got the job done and found the sister he never knew existed until yesterday.

"So, we found this chick yet?" asked Dick then, the question on everybody's mind it seemed.

"Closer, but no cigar, " Mac sighed. "I found a few more references to this girl, first as a kid, and then later there are just so many names, but there are two that come up more than any others," she confirmed, clicking a few keys.

"Alice White," Veronica read from the screen. "And... Parker?" she frowned at the single name on the other side.

"Is that Parker something, or something Parker?" asked Logan with interest. "And hopefully, not the Parker I already know," he frowned then, feeling more than a little sick at the prospect.

Thankfully, his ex-girlfriend, Parker Lee, had been his own age, and not the twenty seven this half-sister must be by now. Still, he had to swallow hard to get rid of the bile even the passing thought had brought to his throat.

"More important, is there a picture?" Dick wanted to know, a waggle of his eyesbrows proving he was still hoping for a hottie more than anything else.

"If you're not gonna help, go away," said Mac, with an encouraging wave of her hand towards the door.

Dick's retort was to stick out his tongue, because he was just that mature. It didn't really matter since nobody was really paying attention anyway. Veronica was still staring at the screen and Logan was in turn looking at her now.

"What is it?" he asked his girlfriend, getting Mac's attention onto Veronica as well.

"I know that name. Parker, as a single name, I mean," she explained, looking back towards the screen. "But it can't be the same woman..." she shook her head.

"Why? Where do you know it from?" asked Mac with genuine curiosity. "Even if it's not her, it might help us eliminate some results."

Veronica looked from Mac to Logan with troubled eyes. There was no good way to say this. She would just have to rip off the band aid and have done with it.

"Parker is the name of a famous, elusive, and ultimately crazy thief," she emphasised, watching Logan's eyes go wide.

Of all the things they had lived through in the sleepy little town of Neptune, there was no way Logan was ready to hear that. His father was a murderer, his mother a suicide. One girlfriend murdered, the other an FBI agent in the making, and her father the best P.I. in California. His nearest and dearest sure weren't just a regular bunch of people, but this was beyond anything he expected. If Veronica was right, his mysterious half sister was a career criminal. That was going to take some getting used to.

"Ooookay," said Mac, clicking away at her keyboard once again.

She could practically feel the intense gaze passing between the couple sat either side of her, but chose to ignore it. It was almost a relief when Logan got up and walked out onto the balcony, with Veronica on his heels. Letting out a breath, Mac continued her search, seeing what she might be able to pull up on some mysertious and apparently crazy thief named Parker. She had barely begun again when the sofa cushion nearly bounced her off with the force of Dick landing beside her.

"So, what's the what, Macky Mac?" he asked with too much interest, literally rubbing his hands together. "Think you can find some babeliscious pics of this crazy thief chick?"

Sometimes the guy was just impossible! Mac almost wished the others hadn't abandoned ship so fast.

Out on the balcony, Veronica stepped up behind her boyfriend and put a hand to his shoulder.

"Logan, I'm sorry," she said softly. "I should've broken that to you more gently, I just, I was so shocked myself, and y'know, maybe I'm wrong. She could be a completely different Parker."

"Veronica, it's fine," he promised her, putting a hand on hers and bringing her around in front of him. "It's not your fault. Let's face it, the Echolls family tree is just about chock full of misfits. What's one more for the list?" he shrugged, pulling her into his arms.

Things never ended well when he did this, Veronica knew. Logan buried his head in the sand before, when Lilly died, and then his Mom. After his Dad was found to be a murderer, and then was subsequently killed. He pretended it was all normal and regular, that he could just cope with whatever life threw at him and it was fine. Veronica understood it, because she did the same thing so often. All this meant was that things would be okay for a couple of days and then the explosion would come. The drinking or the yelling, the off the wall behaviour. Whatever form the outburst took, she knew it would come. All she, or anyone, could do in the meantime was wait, and continue searching for the elusive Grace Carmichael aka Parker, however difficult that proved to be.

_August 13th, 2009, 09:45 EST - Boston, Mass._

Hardison was not comfortable. If his jittery pacing in front of the vid screens didn't give him away, the sweating and talking even faster than usual sure did. Eliot noticed; hell, even Parker noticed, that much was obvious as she shared a look with the hitter. Somebody had to ask and Eliot was just the guy to do it.

"Hold it, hold it!" He cut into Hardison's information giving session, not even caring that Nate glared at him. "Somethin' ain't right here," he said definitely. "There's somethin' you ain't saying".

"Thank you!" exclaimed Parker, clapping her hands together with a crack.

She offered no further explanation for the outburst that made everybody jump. Presumably she was just glad somebody else brought this up so she didn't have to.

"I have to agree," said Sophie, perching herself on the arm of the couch by Eliot. "It does seem as if you're hiding something, Hardison," she told him. "And you are decidedly too quiet," she added, turning her head to glare at Nate.

She did not appreciate that he was keeping things from her most especially. It was one thing for Nate to have secrets about his personal life, even from Sophie herself if he must, but this had to concern the team. Hardison was practically shaking like a leaf, and he was usually much better at acting than that. His eyes constantly shifting anywhere but towards Parker made Sophie wonder at first if his problem was just that something had almost happened between the two youngest on the team, but that wouldn't involve Nate. Nothing was left to do but ask, and Eliot could usually be relied upon to say what everyone else was wondering before long. Once again, he proved the grifter right.

"The truth is..." Nate began when it became clear Hardison was uncomfortable as all hell. "The truth is that when Hardison was researching for this particular job, he didn't just find what he was looking for," he explained as he walked over in front of the couch and all eyes followed him. "Some alarms went off, specifically placed alarms that tell us when someone outside of these four walls is looking for one of us, be it by our real names or any of our aliases."

"Who are they and who do they want?" asked Eliot immediately, needing to know what he might be up against in his quest to always defend his family of friends.

"They looking into Parker," said Hardison, feeling sick to is stomach as he watched her face grow pale.

The poor girl was up on her feet in a second and ready to run. It was only Eliot's hand at her wrist that stopped her. She glanced down to meet his eyes as tears welled in her own. This was one of very few fears that she had, that they _all_ had - the fear of being caught. If someone was hacking to find her, if they were determined like Hardison could be, there was no telling how long it would be before they showed up in Boston to hurt her or take her away. She was terrified.

"Eliot, I have to go," she insisted, but he shook his head.

"Wait a second, take a breath," he told her, tugging on her arm until she sat down next to him again. "Hardison, what else do we know?"

"Not much," he admitted sadly.

"Well, you must know more than just the fact Parker is being looked for," Sophie huffed. "You're the best hacker I ever met. We never have this little information."

"Sophie, come on," Nate cut in when it was clear an argument was going to break out, or possibly Hardison was going to cry, since he certainly looked freaked out enough.

"I know whoever this person is, they not a bad hacker," he explained then. "Not as good as yours truly, obviously, but good enough. They tracked a few of Parker's aliases and... I think I stopped 'em, but if they really want to find her, it isn't all that easy."

"Do we know where?" asked Eliot then. "Where this hacker is? Where they think Parker is?" he continued to question Hardison, one hand still holding onto Parker's arm.

She wasn't trying to get away like she would with anybody else that held her captive like this. She trusted Eliot, even she didn't know why exactly, but she did. If he thought the team could fix this without her having to fall off the grid or something, she would listen, but only for so long, truth be told. Right now she was mostly trying not to shake like a leaf at the prospect of being caught in a trap, since she knew Eliot would be able to tell every time she shivered.

"The signals I got coming in? They're from L.A." Hardison explained. "Now that could be related to our job here, or it could be pure coincidence. Either way, they didn't track our girl down to a location yet, but some of the aliases they found, they're tied to addresses in and around Boston."

The look on his face was a little too grave, and the panic flowing through Parker right now was palpable. She wanted to run and this time Nate was going to let her, just not where she expected to go.

"Okay," said the mastermind slowly, turning to look over his own shoulder and the vid screens beyond.

The display showed two thirds their job and one third details of the tracking on Parker. It all added up to one solution, though he was pretty sure no-one was going to like it. Shifting his gaze to meet Sophie's own, he cleared his throat.

"We're going to L.A.," he said simply, with much cursing and grumbling in response, except from the grifter. "It's the only way to solve anything!" he yelled over the younger ones' noise. "Look, the importance of the job hasn't changed. These people that are being screwed over need our help, just the same as always, and we're going to give them that help," he explained, looking each of the team in the face as he went on. "At the same time, taking Parker to L.A. can only be a good thing. Hardison just told us that the hacker will most likely track her to Boston, maybe even to where we're sitting. This is the last place we want to be."

It gave Parker some hope that Nate was trying to help, and that he was using the term 'we' instead of just 'her'. If she was found, it would be with her team, her family of sorts. Nate always had a plan, Hardison and Sophie were always trying to help Parker out, and Eliot never let them down when it came to protecting them from bad guys. Without really noticing she'd done it, Parker blinked and found herself staring at the hitter, and him staring right on back.

"You okay with this, darlin'?" he checked in a low comforting tone, though she doubted he meant to be so nice. "You know we have your back, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded eventually, finding a shaky smile. "Nothing's going to happen to me. It'll be fine," she shrugged, though the nonchalance was faked and they all knew it.

There were few good choices right now. If a hacker was on Parker's tail, there were few places she could really run to. It was better to keep Hardison around to head off the cyber attacks, and Eliot for the any real ones. Nate and Sophie were so smart with plans and everything, and that could yet prove vital. Seemed they were all going to Los Angeles then, come what may.

_To Be Continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

_**(For disclaimers, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 3

_August 14th, 2009, 07:47 PST - Los Angeles, California._

Parker was twitchy. They all saw it, and none more so than Eliot. Being the outsider that he was, the quiet one that was always watching, he noticed every little jump she made, the way the little thief's eyes darted to any stranger that might try to catch her attention. She thought everyone was out to get her right now, and though she must trust the team to help keep her safe, it was natural for her to be nervous.

"Hey," he caught up to her as they moved through the airport. "It's okay," he promised her with a look that said everything else.

She nodded in understanding, finding a smile as she walked in step with the hitter. He always had her back, always. So long as she stuck with Eliot she never feared taking a leap of faith, literally or otherwise. She never wondered on why that was, Parker wasn't wired that way. She just accepted that he was her safety net and that made everything okay.

Everyone's attention was taken by Nate then as he began to outline a plan with Hardison's help. They were staying at two separate hotels, him and Sophie in one and the other three in another across the street. It was for the sake of the job and ensuring those they would con didn't realise too quickly they were all connected.

"Once we leave the airport, we only communicate via comms," said Nate definitely. "Sophie and I will take Carling, act like we're interested in becoming part of his syndicate," he explained as they all walked along, seeming to everyone else like they were chatting quite naturally about normal everyday things. "At the same time, I want Eliot and Parker on Jenson's tail. He should be right there in the hotel with you, so it's not a tough assignment. Just act naturally and keep an eye out for who he talks to, where he goes, that kind of thing. Strictly recon for now, but we want to know if he has any contact with Carling either before we get to him or after he's seen us, okay?"

"We got it," Eliot confirmed with a single nod.

"What about me?" asked Hardison, though he had a feeling that he already knew.

"You keep a check on how things are progressing with our mystery hacker friend," Nate told him. "If we need anything else, we'll call," he confirmed, tapping his ear to make his meaning clear. "But you have your priorities until then."

Hardison nodded his understanding as the group began to peel off in their separate directions. Through their ear pieces they heard Nate speak softly.

"Let's go steal a loan shark."

_August 14th, 2009, 07:47 PST - Neptune, California._

Veronica woke up to the sun in her face and immediately rolled over to curl up into Logan's side. It was a surprise to realise he wasn't there to snuggle up with, and the other side of the bed where she knew he had been before was now stone cold. Sitting up fast, Veronica's eyes searched the dimly lit bedroom then landed on the door left slightly ajar.

They had spent the past day and a half trying to track down Logan's mysterious sister, who may or may not prove to be an infamous thief named Parker. There was actually no evidence that they were one and the same woman, even Mac couldn't put it together so far, though she promised to keep trying. Veronica had convinced Logan to think of something else for a while, to not get too stuck on this one mystery. It was hypocritical at best and the look on his face when she said it proved he thought so too. Still, he would drive himself crazy if all he did for the rest of time was search for a person that might not even exist anymore.

Last night they went to bed on the understanding that the new day would be spent doing something fun to take Logan's mind of his latest family drama. Veronica promised the beach and video games and anything he wanted. That had led to the two or three hours spent on things that were decidedly not sleep, and nothing whatsoever to do with anyone's sister!

Now it was morning again, and given how cold the space beside her felt, Veronica wondered if Logan had gotten any sleep at all. Hopping out of bed, she wrapped his robe around herself and wandered through the suite. She found her boyfriend on the couch, staring at a TV show he couldn't possibly have been seeing, with a full cup of coffee in his hands - she guessed correctly that was stone cold too.

"Hey," she said softly, trying her hardest not to startle him as she moved to join him on the couch. "Still too busy in your head, huh?"

Logan smiled slowly, flipping off the TV as he turned to face Veronica.

"I tried, I did," he promised her. "And trust me, you were distracting enough back there," he smirked wickedly. "Then when I tried to sleep, I just... I keep thinking, how many kids did my Dad manage to leave all around the world? I mean, so far two, but is that all? Is this gonna become a tradition? Like, every two or three years, another mystery sibling comes out of the woodwork?"

"I don't know," Veronica sighed, removing the mug from his hands to the coffee table, and then moving into his arms, hugging him close. "I wish I could make this easier for you, but I can promise we _will_ keep looking for Grace. If she's out there, we'll find her."

"Even if she is some crazy criminal person named Parker?" asked Logan, the oddest mix of amusement and pain in his looks and tone, but then that was a well-practised combination for him.

"Even then," his girlfriend promised, dropping a kiss onto his lips. "I mean, she might actually rob you blind for every cent you have, but I'll still try everything I can, and Mac can, to find her for you. I know how much this means."

Logan believed that. After all this time, nobody knew him like Veronica did. Having a family, any person at all that was his blood and actually cared to hang around, it would mean the world to him. Veronica didn't have much in the way of relatives herself, but her Dad was always stead-fast and true. One person was better than nobody at all, and though Logan knew that Keith and Veronica wanted to pull him into the house of Mars quite happily, it didn't change the fact that he felt so alone sometimes.

This sister, whether she was to be Grace, Parker, or any other name, she might just want to know Logan, even if it was just a visit once a year at Christmas or a card on his birthday. It'd be something, a connection to call his own.

"So, we had plans for today," he said then, snapping himself out of his melancholy as he pulled Veronica closer. "I seem to remember they all involved bringing me joy," he smiled in such a way as to make her laugh out loud.

"They did," she confirmed, taking his face in her hands. "Now, Mr Echolls, how would you like to start this day of joy?" she asked, letting the robe fall open and off one shoulder when she moved.

His lips on hers told her everything she needed to know, as if she hadn't already figured that out on her own!

_August 14th, 2009, 08:12 PST - Los Angeles, California._

Keith Mars was breathing hard as he dashed around the corner of the hotel and hid himself from view. Sometimes he felt like he was just getting too old for this gig, but then he remembered how satisfying it was to catch the bad guys and get them put away like they should be. Where the law had to stick to certain jurisdictions and boundaries, Private Investigators could go wherever they chose. Catching those who jumped bail or similar, those were the decent pay outs that were helping keep a roof over his head and his baby girl in college. It made the tightness in his chest and the ache in his legs all worth it, he considered, as his breath finally came back to him.

Chancing one more look over his shoulder to the front of the hotel he smiled. The guy he was after hadn't doubled-back to catch Keith following him, in the end. Apparently he just wasn't that smart. It seemed he might actually be so dumb that he went to the wrong hotel to start off with and now here he was at the right one, shaking hands with another man on the front steps. Here was the meeting Keith had heard about through the phone tap that was only partially illegal. Maybe his luck was in on this job after all.

Grabbing for his own cell phone, he hit the speed dial for the office. Veronica would probably be there by now and if not he'd be forwarded to her cell so it wouldn't matter. She would want to know how this case was going, he was sure on that much. Still, it seemed to take an awful long time for her to pick up...

_August 14th, 2009, 08:15 PST - Neptune, California._

"Ignore it," Logan begged between kisses.

Veronica fought with her inner voice that said she really should see who was calling. Honestly, where Logan's hands and lips were wandering, it was almost impossible for her to think straight, and she certainly wasn't breathing well enough to give him a verbal response either way. Of course, when the ringing of her cell just went on and on, she figured the caller wasn't giving up. That probably meant it was her Dad, and the realisation her father might be in trouble killed her passion in a second.

"Oh no!" she gasped, scrambling off Logan as fast as she could, despite the fact she had so been enjoying herself up to that point.

"And she's gone," he muttered, not thrilled by the fact his naked girlfriend was no longer in the bed with him but instead making a grab for her phone.

"Dad?" she asked in a clearly panicked tone, though her breath was still coming in gasps from before.

Logan sat up against the headboard, sobering up fast at the thought that Keith might actually be in some kind of danger. That was obviously what threw a bucket of cold water on Veronica's flaming ardour, and that he could easily forgive. It was only when he watched his girlfriend let out a huge breath of relief that Logan allowed himself to breathe too. Clearly Keith was in fact fine, probably just checking in or asking Veronica to run some checks for him. Now Logan wanted to be mad, but he couldn't really manage it. He just grabbed the comforter from the bottom of the bed and moved to wrap it around Veronica. Somehow it seemed wrong for her to be naked whilst talking to her Dad, even if he was miles away and couldn't see.

"Carling is here, sweetheart, he just made contact with Jenson. This time I got 'em," Keith was saying as Logan got close enough to hear.

Somehow both he and Veronica knew the man was grinning as he spoke, proud of busting a couple more guys. He'd been on the tale of these two for months now, on and off anyway. They were running some kind of scam on those desperate for cash, loaning them money and charging extortionate interest to get it back, or something. Logan hadn't really listened properly when Veronica explained it, since it wasn't his area of expertise. What they were doing skated on the line of legal and illegal anyway, and Keith was determined to bust the case wide open, bringing both the bad guys down and anyone else he could get at the same time. So far, so good, it seemed.

"Be careful, Dad," Veronica advised him. "Remember what we talked about. This could be bigger than just those two, and I don't want you getting yourself hurt. If you need back up..."

"Hey, I was doing this kind of thing before I had your help, sweetheart," her father reminded her. "Not that I don't appreciate the offer, but I can handle it, Veronica, I swear."

"I know you can," she smiled down the phone, and Logan did so too.

He was a little jealous sometimes when it came to the parent-child relationship Veronica and Keith shared, but he would never deny her that love or connection. Instead, he was glad for her that she had it, and even more so that they let him play at being part of their family as much as possible. It gave him a warm feeling inside that the idea of getting a real blood sister only made grow. If Veronica said they were going to find Grace somehow then he believed her. She never failed him before.

_August 14th, 2009, 08:21 PST - Los Angeles, California._

Hardison was only half listening as Nate and Eliot both confirmed that their guys had met on the front steps of the hotel, looking all kinds of friendly. He had bigger things to worry about right now, like stopping every attempt this other hacker made at tracking down Parker. Whoever this guy was, he was a man after his own heart, Hardison had to admit that much. He knew his stuff and he was all kinds of dedicated, since he'd been on this thing since around five a.m. today.

With a grin that came naturally, Hardison clicked away on his keyboard.

"Nuh-uh, man," he told his fellow hacker who of course could not hear him at all. "Y'ain't gettin' our girl that way either," he added as he cut off another connection almost made.

Of course, his main task here was to complete the tracking of this other computer whiz's I.P. and pinpoint exactly where he was. That was taking way longer than it should. The program had been running for the better part of the plane ride over and still after they arrived in L.A. It was getting closer all the time, but then the signal seemed to bounce all around the world at a moments notice. There was some decent scrambling and blocking going on, but Hardison was still pretty confident he could work his way through it given time, and maybe not even that much time.

"We got an I.D. on the other guy?" he heard Parker ask over comms then.

"Which other guy, Parker?" Sophie wanted to know.

"Yeah, which other guy?" echoed Hardison himself as he tuned back into the conversation, realising maybe he was slacking in one duty for the sake of another. "Jenson or Carling?"

"No, there was a third man," said Eliot, agreeing with his partner. "Right before these two cats met up, he came by. Almost looked like he was tailing Carling, same as you guys," he told Nate and Sophie.

"You get a picture?" asked Hardison, "'Cause I could maybe I.D. him if you did."

Each member of the team admitted they had no photographic evidence and could no longer see the mystery man anywhere around. Unbeknownst to the others, Nate was having a plan, just like normal.

"Er, we do have a picture," he said over everyone else's chatter. "There are cameras outside the hotel, both the hotels actually. At least one had to have been pointing where this guy walked."

"That should be a pretty easy hack," Hardison considered. "'Course it'd be easier if you guys could help a brother out," he suggested.

Whilst the hacker explained how Parker and Eliot might make his hacking into the cameras that bit simpler, Nate continued to look up and down the street from the opposite hotel. This other person tailing Carling could be a part of the bad guys' team, but it didn't seem likely. Maybe they had another player in the game, someone on the right side of the law, or even a disgruntled customer trying to get a little pay back on his own. Either way, Nate wanted all the information he could get on this mystery person. There was no way he wanted another person getting in the way of a good con, that was for sure.

"Oh yeah!" the hacker suddenly exclaimed, long before Parker ever got the electronic device he had told her to use into the security room tech.

"Hardison?" said Sophie, putting a finger to her earbud. "What's going on?"

"This hacker dude think he so smart!" he chuckled in her ear, and everyone else's too. "My tracking program finally came through for us. I got a lock on. This guy is in... Neptune, California," he told the team.

"How far is that from here?" asked Eliot, looking towards the door Parker had just passed through.

He was outside the room keeping guard but heard her tiny intake of breath through his earbud. Eliot only hoped she didn't freak out and forget what she was doing in there.

"Around eighty miles south of here," Hardison confirmed. "Now I can just send the biggest ass virus ever made down the line to this dude, blow his research all to hell, or we can let Eliot go down to this address I have right here and beat the living daylights outta him," he said thoughtfully. "But I'm guessing you got a plan that trumps both o' those ideas, Nate. Am I right?"

"You're not necessarily wrong," the mastermind smirked a little, and Sophie rolled her eyes.

Sometimes it would do Nate good to remember he wasn't always the smartest man in the known world. Unfortunately, he did prove quite often that he came damn close, especially where cons were concerned. It did not help her sort out her feelings for him, that was for certain. All it did was make her feel all the more confused. Sophie shook the thoughts away, like the burgeoning headache they always inevitably caused. There were more important things to focus on right now.

"Okay," she said looking from Nate to the view from the window. "So Carling and Jenson are friendly enough, almost definitely in bed together, so to speak," she sighed. "Not much we can do 'til the old Mastermind here comes up with his plan for them, or for this hacker with a thing for Parker, so in the meantime let's take a look at our mystery man from outside the hotel," she suggested.

"You got that picture yet, Hardison?" asked Eliot, just as Parker rushed out through the security room door.

The two of them moved away, trying not to look suspicious at all.

"Hey, give a guy a chance, Eliot," the hacker complained. "I got six camera feeds outside of the hotel... two around back, one on the side entrance, and the other three out front," he confirmed.

"Last movement was east to west in front of the hotel, moving pretty quick for an old guy," said Parker thoughtfully.

She and Eliot grabbed the nearest table in the hotel restaurant and sat down, trying to look casual. They faked checking out the menu as they waited for Hardison to work his way through the footage from the right camera, always keeping an eye out for any strange movements by Carling and Jenson too.

"Older guy, average height, Caucasian, and... mostly bald?" the hacker checked.

"That's him," Eliot agreed.

"Do you have a clear enough picture to run through the facial recognition, Hardison?" Nate wanted to know.

"Sure," he agreed. "These fancy hotels got themselves some pretty decent picture quality. Course it's gonna take a while for the search to run, and nothing guarantees this dude'll show up..."

"Just try it," Nate urged him. "Eliot, Parker, you can go up to the room, maybe get a little rest," he suggested then. "Like Sophie said, we need a settled plan before we move on it. Jet lag, however minor, isn't going to help anyone's performance."

With a little R&R agreed on by all team members, Parker reached to pop her earbud out of her ear and watched Eliot do the same. She let out a sigh that had been bubbling up for a while, he guessed.

"So, the hacker's in Neptune. Eighty short miles away," she said casually, though Eliot knew she was far from calm about any of this.

Whoever this person was or whoever they might be working for, it bothered Parker, and the hitter completely understood that. Could be the law, but more likely an old enemy of some kind. There were bad people in the thief's past, just as there were in Eliot's own. They came from dark worlds, the two of them, and it made them stronger than the rest in some ways. Still, it also made them that bit more wary of trusting folks. After all this time and all they'd been through, Eliot at least hoped that Parker trusted him to keep her safe.

"Whoever this cat is, they ain't gettin' to you, darlin'. You gotta believe me on that." he said definitely, as they headed for the elevator to go up to their room.

"I do," she shrugged. "I just... It's creepy, y'know? And I just keep wondering who and why, and I hate that. I hate all the questions in my head that won't go away."

"I know," he nodded as they got into the empty car and the doors closed behind them.

There wasn't much else he could say to calm her fears. He knew what it was to be chased, hunted even, both literately and figuratively. It put a bunch of uneasy thoughts in your head and a knot in the pit of your stomach, no matter how tough you reckoned you were. Nothing was going to make Parker feel better, not until they got a hold of this hacker and dealt with the potential threat on their team-mate's tail. Personally, Eliot hoped he got to bust somebody's head for messing with his friend this way. Right now, he felt it'd be a well deserved beating.

_August 14th, 2009, 11:02 PST - Neptune, California._

"Damn it!" Mac cursed her computer, the world, and everyone in it.

Her attempts to help Veronica and Logan by tracking down a supposed long lost half sister were not going well, or rather they were until about three hours ago.

Yesterday had been kind of a bust. Between her part-time Summer job at Kane Software, reading for her new courses coming up in October, and normal things like sleeping and eating, Mac hadn't had much time to continue her little hacking adventure until it was getting late. She left a couple of basic tracker programs running whilst she slept, and was up at the crack of dawn this morning with a new idea.

From five a.m. onwards she was employing a few tricks she hadn't thought of until today, trying every angle to bust into private databases of adopted children, and legal records of minors that might be potential matches for little Grace Carmichael. She came up empty even when she did get into a lot of those dimly lit corners of the web, until suddenly she had a breakthrough.

It was a little before eight o'clock when she thought she was getting some place. She had a good lead and she was running with it, powering up on a Red Bull that she held in her left hand whilst the right flew across the keyboard. She didn't want to call Veronica and Logan until she was sure she was right in what she was guessing here. This might be the wrong person she was tracking, since they had yet to actually prove that Grace was the infamous thief, Parker, but if she was one and the same person, Mac had an idea she had tracked her to the east coast, somewhere in Massachusetts, close to Boston maybe.

Within ten minutes of her search coming to fruition, her computer had crashed. Angrily Mac had stabbed at the keys until she got the laptop back online, and swore uncharacteristically colourfully when she realised she had to start over. It was now three hours later, and with every possible path being blocked from all angles, Mac was starting to wonder if someone wasn't actively trying to stop her in her task.

It wasn't a ridiculous thought to have. This Parker, be it Grace or not, could be running with a hacker or have a few skills of her own. This was the digital age, and an awful lot of criminals took the high-tech route. Hell, some if not all of the stuff Mac was doing to find this woman wasn't exactly what one might call legal!

Of course, it made this whole thing a lot more dangerous now Mac was up against another person rather than just the faceless tech of the internet and general web security. She was going to have to tell Logan and Veronica what was happening, maybe even back off for a while until she could better protect her own computer and her identity. Either way, it seemed it was going to take much longer to find the elusive Grace Carmichael than they originally thought, and that was if they could actually track her down at all. It was beginning to look like an impossible task.

_To Be Continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

_**(for disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 4

_August 14th, 2009, 15:43 PST - Neptune, California._

Mac felt sick as she explained to Logan what had happened as she attempted further searches into the elusive Grace Carmichael, who may or may not be calling herself Parker these days. She watched his expression crumble from hope, through disappointment, to some pretty well-masked pain. Still, Mac knew this was hurting him. He had no family these days, nobody that was blood anyway. She could relate, but even she had the advantage of knowing the truth and of knowing where her family was, even if she didn't spend time with them or know them well. Logan had a half-sister out there in the world, one last shot at family, and here Mac was telling him she couldn't help like they planned.

If it were possible, Veronica felt just as heart-broken as her boyfriend looked. She made him promises, swore that she would do everything possible to find Grace, with Mac's help, of course. Now it seemed like the possible was fast becoming impossible. Someone was actively trying to stop Mac from finding this mystery woman. As good a hacker as she was, this person could be better, they could be dangerous too. Nobody wanted to put Mac or anyone in danger. This had to stop and it had to be now, even though the idea of failing on such an important mission made Veronica sick to the stomach.

"I mean, maybe I could beef up the security some and try again," said Mac, squirming uncomfortably on the couch. "I don't wanna give up, but whoever this person is that's blocking me..."

"No," Logan shook his head definitely. "No, Mac, it's fine. You did your best, and I appreciate that, I really do," he assured her, forcing half a smile, though even that didn't really come out right. "I don't want you putting yourself in danger for the sake of finding a sister for me that clearly doesn't want to be found," he shrugged, patting her hand.

When he got up from his seat, he was followed by two pairs of eyes. Mac didn't know what to say, and Veronica was struggling herself. Logan wanted so badly to make a connection here, and every hope he had just seemed to get dashed way too soon. He pretended to be so tough sometimes, he had to, but on the inside he was as much of a marshmallow as Veronica herself could be sometimes.

"Logan," she reached for his hand to stop him walking away just yet. "I'm so sorry," she told him sincerely.

Her brain was practically hitting overload as she tried to think of anything else to say to make it better. Logan knew that, because he could see it written all over her face. Veronica Mars was hard-wired to find a fix, an answer, a way to make things right, to get justice. Unfortunately, the world didn't always work that way. She ought to know it by now, but she just wouldn't give up. It was one of oh so many things he loved about her.

"It's not your fault," he told her, squeezing her hand in his own. "It's not Mac's either, I know that," he shrugged. "I should've known better than to think I was allowed to have any kind of blood family. It's some kind of poetic justice, I guess. The Echolls name can live and die with me, then nobody else needs to be hurt by it."

With that he turned to walk away, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door without ever glancing back, not a word said about where he was going or why. Mac looked between his retreating back and Veronica's hardening expression. She had a feeling that here was the last place she ought to be. There was going to be a fight, it was all but inevitable, and she had been at least part of the cause. As if she didn't feel bad enough already.

"Logan!" Veronica called his name and rushed after him, dragging him by the sleeve, far away from his path for the door.

Mac saw an opening, grabbed up her bag and jacket, and bolted. She called a vague 'see you later' over her shoulder and just got out. An explosion was due here. It was a long time coming, she knew that much, and now it was bound to be of Vesuvius type proportions. Mac needed to find some cover already.

Back inside the hotel room, Logan wouldn't even look at Veronica. He knew what was coming, some speech about how running never solved anything, how drowning his sorrows wasn't going to help. Her opening line when she started to yelling was actually a surprise.

"How dare you?" she snapped at him. "Logan, how can you talk like that, like you're so alone. _I'm_ here!" she reminded him, one hand over her chest. "I am _always_ here!"

"Oh, you're always here?" he checked incredulously. "I guess that's not counting the times when you've walked out on me or dumped me or pretended everything was fine whilst screening my calls?"

Dragging up the past with the one woman who loved him most, it was pointless, and maybe the stupidest thing Logan could do right now. That never stopped him before and apparently it wasn't going to today either. He was hurting deep inside, and though nobody here was at fault, he had to lash out. Causing pain was better than dealing with his own, he told himself, even if that logic was childish and ultimately flawed.

"I know you're hurting, Logan," said Veronica, taking a deep breath so she didn't add to the explosive argument he was trying to pull her into. "I get it, I do, but taking it out on me won't help."

"And who am I supposed to take it out on, huh?" he asked her too loudly and right in her face. "Who else do I have to yell at or talk to or anything anymore? My Dad is dead! My Mom is dead! My best friend is half way around the world! Somewhere out there I have a half brother who won't talk to me over my own stupid mistake, and a half sister that I'll probably never meet!" he continued, yelling the whole time, waving his arms around in emphatic gestures that Veronica leaned away from for fear of being accidentally struck. "Excuse me if I don't exactly feel too loved right now when you start yelling at me on top of everything else."

"I just wanna help you," she tried to explain, even though she knew he wasn't going to listen, not now, not in this state, he never did.

"Well, maybe this time the great Veronica Mars can't just swoop in and fix everything with her invisible ink and her decoder ring!" he told her nastily. "Maybe this time nothing is going to help... except drinking until the pain goes away for a while."

For once, Veronica couldn't come up with anything smart to say. She yelled his name but Logan was already gone, the door slamming loudly in his wake. He was one of the few people in the world that could render her speechless, either by being that little bit smarter once in a while, or times like today, when it just hurt too much to breathe, never mind answer.

Veronica loved Logan so much, she tried to make him see that every day, but in some ways it was never going to be quite enough. They'd both suffered losses - her Mom, his parents, Lilly, Duncan - but she always had her father to turn to in a crisis, always knew where she came from, who her real friends were. Logan never had any kind of structure or support, not really. These past couple of days he had let himself believe he was going to build a bridge, a connection to a family he thought was lost forever. Now that hope was lost, and he was broken all over again. It tore at Veronica's heart to realise it. She cried.

_August 14th, 2009, 16:11 PST - Los Angeles, California._

Nate had made it pretty clear that he did not want to meet up as a team whilst they were in L.A. for fear of them being seen together and blowing any possible cover when going after Jenson and Carling. It made team meetings harder, but not impossible, thanks to technology.

From their hotel room across the street, Nate and Sophie were available on a T.V. screen, staring in at Hardison, Eliot, and Parker in their own suite, as well as the computer the hacker was working on. New information had come to light, and apparently it was urgent.

"This guy that Eliot and Parker saw run past the hotel before the meeting, the one potentially tailing Carling, his name is Keith Mars," said Hardison, showing a decent mug shot of the older mostly bald man, next to the screencap from the security camera. "Now records show he's a registered Private Investigator, and a former Sheriff, so I doubt he's on the side of the bad guys. In fact, from what I could pull up from his history, he takes down people like Carling, and does a pretty decent job of it too."

"One run-of-the-mill private dick against this crowd?" said Eliot with an unimpressed look. "Man's gonna get himself killed."

"Probably," the hacker agreed. "Chances are good he don't got a clue how big this operation is. Maybe doesn't even know who Jenson is, almost definitely doesn't realise the size of the game he playin'."

"Okay, so he's not trouble, but he might well get in the way", said Nate on the screen. "Do we know where he is right now?"

"At a motel down town," Hardison explained, pulling up a map.

A dot blinked over a motel, which then popped up a flag containing its name and address too.

"I could go over there," said Sophie with consideration. "Advise him in a polite way that he might want to get out of the way before he's steam-rollered flat by these guys."

"Good idea," Nate nodded as he considered her proposal. "Take one of your FBI I.D.s with you, sell it that way. Let the guy know that there's already a team dealing with these guys and for his own safety he should walk away now," he advised.

Throughout the conversation, Parker remained quiet but certainly not still. Eliot shot sideways glances at the blonde as she shifted in her seat, crossing her legs one way and then the other. Her hands went to her hair, then folded in her lap. She was on edge, more so than Eliot had ever seen before. He hated that he had no way to help her yet.

"Anything else I should know about this Keith Mars, Hardison?" asked Sophie then.

"One thing that raised kind of a red flag," the hacker admitted, his eyes flitting to Parker before returning to the screen through which he could clearly see Nate and Sophie. "This guy is from Neptune."

"Neptune? He's the hacker?" asked Parker, practically squeaking like a mouse.

"No, no way," Hardison shook his head definitely. "Whoever this hacker is, they in Neptune right now. Besides, the type of experience this Mars dude has, he pretty old school. Simple web searches, sure, but nothing fancy, it just ain't his style."

"But you have to admit, it would be strange if there wasn't a link here," said Sophie with consideration.

"It does seem like an awfully big coincidence," agreed Nate, even as he and the grifter shared a look of concern.

Parker was panicking, and that was no good for the job, the team, or anything. This needed dealing with just as much as the job to help others. Parker was one of their own, their family. She was needing help right now and they had to cover that as much as they had to assist their clients. Nate's mind worked quickly to come up with a solution.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do" he said after barely a moment of quick thinking. "Eliot, you up for a little recon, say eighty miles south of town?" he asked the hitter out-right.

"Sure", he nodded once, eyes drifting to Parker. "I'll go check it out, no problem."

She didn't exactly look happy about the plan, but she didn't look any more jittery either. Eliot honestly wondered if she could even if she wanted to right now.

"Okay, between us I'm sure me, Sophie, and Hardison can deal with Carling and Jenson, at least lay some groundwork for when you get back," Nate told the hitter. "If we get in a fix, we can call. Eighty miles isn't that far..."

"Hey, I could go with Eliot," Hardison offered, not wanting to be left out in the helping Parker stakes, that much was clear. "If we up against a hacker, he could need me."

"And _we_ could need you" Nate reminded him as a stern father might speak to a child. "I know you want to help, Hardison, but anything Eliot needs, I'm sure you can handle it remotely. If we need a third face for the mark, I want options. You need to stay."

"But I don't have to," said Parker, a statement not a question as she glanced from the two guys sat in the room with her, to the older pair through the T.V. "I'm going with Eliot."

"Parker, no," Sophie advised her strongly. "That would be like walking into their trap!"

"They won't be expecting it!" the blonde yelled back, perhaps too sharply. "Hardison said they were tracking me to Boston. The last place they'll be looking is right in front of them, that's never where people look when they're searching," she explained what all of them must already know. "Besides, I'll be with Eliot. He'll keep me safe," she said as definitely as she ever said anything.

Eliot felt a strangely warm glow inside when he herd those words and saw the compete trust in Parker's eyes as she looked his way then. She did trust him, absolutely, and with her life. He was not going to let her down, that was for Goddamn sure.

"She's right," he confirmed to the others, though his gaze never left Parker's own.

They were gonna be just fine.

_August 15th, 2009, 00:02 PST - Neptune, California._

Eliot wasn't altogether surprised that Parker was feeling restless. He had planned to save the recon until tomorrow morning, allow himself and his thief friend time to settle into the suite at the hotel and get some rest. Parker couldn't sleep, she could barely sit still, and he knew why. Eliot couldn't stand to be trapped inside three rooms with her at the Neptune Grand and so he took her out.

This town wasn't exactly the biggest of places. Eliot had done his research, or rather had Hardison do it for him. There was a good side of town where all the the rich people lived in their mansions and such. Then there was a bad side, mostly populated by down-trodden Latino types. Eliot decided middle of the road was the better bet for himself and Parker right now. They headed to a bar to get a drink, maybe something to eat, since the little blonde always seemed to like to snack when she was ansty. They left the comms in their pockets, since hearing Nate, Sophie, and Hardison make plans wasn't helping anyone. Parker could probably use a different kind of distraction, which was why the bar with open mic night appealed to her, Eliot guessed.

They sat down at a table in the corner, and a waitress brought them their drinks pretty fast. The hitter scanned the room for any possible threats and saw none that mattered. There was a gang of guys on the far side that probably liked to make trouble, but only amongst their own type of people. A couple of drunks at the bar might get sloppy later, but again, not the sort that would bother Eliot any. The hitter leaned back in his seat and let his beer bottle rest comfortably in his hand. He looked at Parker, and found her staring intently at the stage, one hand idly swirling the drink in her glass for no real reason. She was too quiet still. Parker was all for games in the car, like a kid who couldn't bear the silence and boredom of a long journey. Today, she had barely said a word the whole eighty miles from LA to here.

"Hey," he called for her attention and got it instantly. "Relax, Parker. I got your back, remember?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, though her feet were still tapping some under the table, her hand still turning the glass in circles. "I hope the other singers are better than that girl," she said, changing the subject in a second, and Eliot let her too. "She was really bad."

"Open mic night ain't exactly known for quality music, Parker," he smiled indulgently.

"Not everybody can be as good as you, I guess," she shrugged, sipping at her drink.

Eliot was a little taken aback by the sudden compliment. It wasn't that he objected to being told he was a good singer but to his knowledge, the team knew nothing of that particular skill. He never deliberately sang in front of the team, which begged the question;

"When did you hear me sing, Parker?"

Her head turned slowly from the stage until her eyes met Eliot's own. A slight frown creased her forehead for a moment, and then she laughed.

"Um... I don't know," she told him awkwardly, remembering how mad he got last time this kind of conversation came up between them, when he asked her how she knew what he looked like naked. "I guess I just... Oh, look how drunk that guy is!" she pointed.

Eliot didn't like that she was shifting topic on him, but there was no way he wasn't going to react to the loud crash of a guy falling off his bar stool, all four limbs waving in the air in a vain attempt to save himself. Then the young man just started to laugh, a painful hollow sound that Eliot knew all to well.

"What are you doing?" asked Parker when Eliot suddenly stood up from his seat.

"Gonna get this guy up off the floor," he told her, casting a quick glance to the other side of the bar. "I got a feeling he's not too popular with the gang crowd."

Parker followed Eliot's head tilt and realised the Latino types in leathers were all pointing and whispering about the guy on the floor. It was like they were planning something, maybe to attack or mug this drunk man. That wasn't cool, and since she and Eliot were like the good guys now, they should probably help him.

She got up and followed her team-mate to the bar, where Eliot had already got unnamed drunk dude back onto his feet. He wobbled a lot, breathing booze all over his saviours. Parker winced at the strength of the smell and started to cough.

"Wow. I'm surprised the bar has any booze left in it," she said, waving a hand in front of her face. "It's like he's mini Nate or something."

"Not helping, Parker," Eliot growled at her, before going back to asking drunk guy if he was okay or needed help at all.

The weird maniacal laughter was back by now, making the hitter wonder if he this dude hit his head on the way to the ground, or was just genuinely so out of it that he didn't know what was happening. He asked him for his name, but the answer came from alternate source.

"His name is Logan Joseph Echolls," Parker said succinctly. "According to this, he lives at our hotel," she frowned, handing an I.D. card to Eliot.

The hitter frowned some as he took the card in one hand, using the other to hold Logan steady on the stool. The only people who lived in hotels were incredibly rich or entirely eccentric. There was every chance this guy was both. The upside was, in this drunken state, there was no way he would realise who was helping him or ask any questions about it later They could take him back to the Grand, dump him in his room, get back to their own, and nobody would ever be any the wiser. At least it meant Logan couldn't get himself into anymore trouble.

"Parker, grab his other side," Eliot instructed her, even as she continued to go through the contents of Logan's wallet - seriously, even Eliot hadn't notice her lift it at all.

"Are we taking him home?" she asked, almost as if Logan were a lost puppy she wanted for a pet.

"We'll get him back to the hotel, yeah," her partner agreed. "After all..."

"Parker!" Logan repeated the name, laughing still. "That's just... My ex-girlfriend, and my sister's name is Parker! Daddy's little girl," he slurred and stumbled between his two saviours.

Eliot and Parker shared a look but neither said a word. Logan was beyond drunk and making little to no sense. There was no point in taking his words to heart. Even if he did have an ex and/or a sister named Parker, that was just a coincidence. She didn't have a blood brother, and she'd never seen this guy before in her whole life. Given how weird he was being, she would happily never see him again. That was a sentiment Eliot would quite agree with.

_August 15th, 2009, 00:34 PST - Neptune, California._

It took longer than it should for Eliot and Parker to get Logan back to the Grand. When the bus driver refused them, and so did the cab, for fear of Logan throwing up everywhere, Parker had wanted to give up and just drop him off somewhere relatively safe. Eliot wouldn't hear of it. You didn't leave a helpless person behind like that, it was just wrong. Besides, he'd been this guy before, the drunk and lonely person that just needed a friend. Chances were good Logan's problem was either a woman or money, and given he lived in a frickin' hotel, Eliot was going with the wife or girlfriend theory. Guys had to stick together in situations like this, so he was at least determined to get Logan home safe, if not clean.

The vomiting started two streets from the hotel, narrowly avoiding everyone's shoes by the smallest of margins. Logan seemed slightly more sober after he and his guts had parted ways in the gutter, but only very slightly. He was still staggering, hanging on to both Eliot and Parker when they entered the Neptune Grand and headed for the bank of elevators.

"How do we know which room?" she asked, at which Eliot looked momentarily troubled.

Dumping Logan unceremoniously into a chair, he put out is hand for Parker to hand over the drunk man's wallet. There was a key card in there and as suspected the room number was on the back. Scratch that, not a room number but the name of a suite on the top floor.

"Of course, the penthouse," he muttered, before he and Parker picked Logan up and dragged him into the elevator.

A couple of other guests as well as some staff members were staring, but none came over to check on Logan or made any comments. Eliot didn't doubt they'd seen all this before. Rich guys could afford to get drunk pretty regular, he supposed.

Before too long they reached the top floor. Eliot supported Logan, who was still slurring his words, and apparently singing Elvis Costello's Veronica at this point. The hitter could only guess somebody sang it at the bar before he and Parker arrived. The thief ran ahead down the hallway to open Logan's suite door. She ran the keycard through the lock and pushed the door open, standing back with a flourish to let Eliot walk by. They all got a surprise when Logan suddenly yelled loudly into the room;

"Hey, honey, I'm home!"

Eliot hadn't really thought about the fact anybody would be waiting here for good old drunk Logan to come rolling on home. He heard Parker gasp and back up against the wall the moment another blonde chick appeared, looking freaked out herself.

"Oh my God!" she gasped at the sight of Logan, who stumbled from Eliot's grasp, practically falling into what he could only guess was the girlfriend.

"He's all yours, ma'am," Eliot nodded politely, quickly turning to go.

He ushered Parker towards the door, but she shook her head.

"Wait a second," called Logan's girlfriend. "Who are you?"

"We're nobody, ma'am," Eliot shrugged. "Just concerned neighbours. We saw Logan in a bar, thought he might get himself into trouble, so we helped out."

"Okay, first off, my name is Veronica. I'm probably ten years younger than you, so the ma'am thing is kinda overkill," she smiled, as she encouraged Logan to lie down on the couch. "And people don't just bring strangers home from the bar," she shook her head. "Are you hoping for money because you help out a minor celebrity or...?"

"Celebrity?" echoed Parker, that word having got her attention. "Money?"

"We're not here for any reward," Eliot growled, shooting a look over his shoulder. "Honestly, it's just that I've been in his position, drunk and lonely. I didn't want to see the local crowd take his wallet or beat him up just because they could."

"Oh, my hero," Logan said with a drunken chuckle, his hands over his heart. "He's like Superman, and she's... she has my sisters name," he giggled until his eyes fell closed under the weight of the booze and the effects of the puking.

"She does?" asked Veronica, looking from her boyfriend to a startled Parker.

"No, she doesn't," the thief lied. "We have to go now. Let's go find the hacker," she whispered too loudly near Eliot's ear.

"Parker, calm the hell down," the hitter told her crossly even as they moved to go.

All this information passed through Veronica's head and unscrambled itself into the best sense she could manage inside five seconds. Mystery people, one named Parker, looking for a hacker. This was either one hell of a coincidence or...

"You're her," said Veronica with a smile she just couldn't help. "You're Parker, the crazy thief. You might really be Logan's sister."

Eliot looked from one blonde to the other, feeling like he just jumped into one of those stupid alternate dimensions Hardison was always talking about in his sci fi TV shows. When his eyes finally settled on Parker's ashen face alone, she met his gaze and shook her head slightly.

"What?" she asked in real confusion, as Logan continued to laugh like a loon.

_To Be Continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

_**(for disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 5

_August 15th, 2009, 00:57 PST - Neptune, California._

"Logan, c'mon, please," urged Veronica as she pushed the cup of black coffee towards his lips. "We are _not_ gonna do this with you drunk as a skunk. Drink the coffee!" she said with a determination that Eliot had rarely seen in a woman, but he liked it when he did.

Of course, his mind wasn't altogether focused on this particular blonde. Parker was his main concern. She looked just about ready to throw herself out the nearest window in order to get away from the awkward situation they found themselves in.

Veronica had just said Parker could be Logan's long lost sister. Well, there was a revelation, and what could very well be a lie. Still, it would make sense of a lot of things, like why a hacker from Neptune had been trying to track Parker down. Besides, it wasn't as if Eliot could argue against the theory. He had no idea where Parker came from exactly. He never asked her, mostly because he wondered if she knew herself. She certainly never seemed to want to think let alone talk about it. She told a couple of stories before, about when she was staying with foster families, but most tales from the past were from Archie and onward, all the time that she'd been a thief. What came in the beginning, her real name, her birth parents, nobody ever asked and she never told. Now it seemed, one way or another, the truth was about to come out.

"Don't stare at me," she said when she caught Eliot doing just that.

Her arms were folded defensively, a look he was sharing though he hadn't realised until now. After all, this was his usual stance, she was the one that was copying. It seemed to childish to bring it up though, so he didn't. Parker was priority, her feelings, the possibility she was going run out of here without warning and be gone for days. Eliot could not have that. He needed to know where she was because he had been charged with keeping her safe and promised to do so, always. He had her back, regardless the situation, even if he was just about to find out some stupid drunken jackass was Parker's kid brother.

"I'm sorry to throw all this at you out of the blue," said Veronica then as she approached, having left Logan drinking his coffee on the couch. "It must sound a little strange, and honestly, it's a crazy coincidence, but... but if you are Logan's sister..."

"Hey," Eliot stepped in the way when Veronica reached out to Parker.

The little thief flinched away on instinct and the other woman wasn't going to understand that. It wasn't Veronica's fault, but she didn't know Parker, she had no idea how to handle her, not like Eliot did.

"I'm sorry," said Veronica uncertainly. "So, if she's Parker, you are...?"

"Why does that matter?" the hitter snapped, perhaps a little too sharply, but he didn't know these people and trusting them to be straight with them was more than his job was worth. "Look, you think Parker is your guy's sister, that's fine, but I'm not buyin' without some kind of proof."

"I'm getting it. I swear I am," she assured him and Parker both, as she glanced between them. "The call I made, after I ordered coffee, that was to my friend Mac. She's kind of a computer whiz, and she's been trying to help Logan and me find his half-sister."

"She?" asked Parker with wide eyes. "The hacker is a she?"

"Yeah," Veronica nodded her agreement, just as knock came on the door. "And that will be her right now," she added as she rushed off to let Mac into the suite.

Logan was up off the couch by now too, staggering a little as he walked over to Eliot and leaned on him. The hitter shoved him back until he almost fell.

"Hey, watch it, man," he warned him. "I'm already regretting picking you up off the floor of that bar. You don't wanna make me any more mad, okay, bubba?"

"Parker, and... angry man," said Veronica uncertainly. "This is Mac, computer genius."

"Hi," the nerdy type girl with bright purple streaks in her hair offered a nervous wave. "Um, so you want me to..." she made a vague gesture to her laptop bag and Veronica nodded.

Within a minute, the computer was set up on the table and the other four were gathered around to see what Mac had to show them. Eliot was not amused by the lists, facts and figures she pulled up that seemed to be all about Parker. They didn't have a picture of the woman in question, but as Mac traced back through her data, she landed back where Logan and Veronica had apparently started.

"See, all we really know for sure is that Logan's half sister was originally named Grace Carmichael..."

Mac's explanation was swiftly interrupted by a gasp from Parker. Eliot looked sideways at her pale face, and still didn't quite anticipate in time that she was going to run. Thankfully, there were too many obstacles, both people and furniture, blocking her way out of the unfamiliar room. She ran what had to be further into the suite, slamming doors behind her.

Eliot was willing to bet that for once in her life Parker just went with the predictable female response and locked herself in the bathroom. It was better than having to search the whole of Neptune and beyond for the girl. With Parker, that would be less a needle in a haystack and more like a needle in Kansas!

"Okay," said Veronica slowly. "So I'm guessing that name was familiar to her?"

Eliot looked from her to Logan and his expression that was way too much like Parker's had been a second ago. They didn't exactly look alike, maybe vaguely, but Eliot knew that could be because the suggestion had been put into his head that they were related. Either way, Logan looked genuinely shook up. Sure, this could be a con. These kids could be part of some plot to get to the team. There were certainly plenty of people who would like to see Nate Ford's do-gooder Robin Hoods brought down. Still, coming at Parker through a mysterious family link, sending these people after her that weren't much more than twenty years old a piece, it seemed unlikely.

"Should somebody check on her?" asked Mac giving Eliot what might've been a pointed look if she were braver.

"Yeah," he replied, moving in the direction Parker had gone with a definite stride.

Veronica watched him go then turned to Logan. He looked bemused, and some of that could easily be the booze still muddling his mind. At the same time, she was pretty sure the shocking truth was sobering him up fast, even if the coffee had barely made a dent on his drunkenness. It seemed that not only were they right and the thief they called Parker was his sister, but that she was right here, right now, in this hotel suite. It was beyond crazy, and yet it seemed to be true.

In the next room, Eliot's mind was racing just as much as anyone elses. The bathroom door was before him now and beyond it Parker was silent. He figured there was a window in there she could get out of but prayed she hadn't done it. They needed to figure this out, and he needed her to stay put. She ought to have enough sense to realise she was better off here with him than out there on her own right now, especially if this whole thing was a con. Of course, Parker's need to run away from a situation she didn't know how to handle sometimes over-ruled her own good sense.

"Hey, Parker!" he called, knocking firmly on the door. "Darlin', answer me!"

"Go away!" she called back, which was a relief to Eliot anyway.

If she was answering, she was still there. It really didn't matter what she was saying, just so long as he knew where she was right now.

"I ain't going anywhere, sweetheart, and you know it," he growled. "Look, you're better than this, Parker. You don't need to run out on a situation just because it's complicated..."

"I didn't ask for a brother!" she yelled back immediately. "I can't... I can't have a family. I just can't!"

"Parker, we don't even know if you've got a family here. These folks could be anybody," he reminded her. "We don't know for sure they're telling the truth, and..."

The door unlocking and opening up interrupted Eliot's sentence and his whole thought process. He half expected Parker to be tear-stained when her face appeared again, and yet she hadn't cried at all. She still looked pale, shaken up as was to be expected, but at the same time almost resolved with what had just happened.

"_I_ know," she said definitely, peering past Eliot into the room beyond where Logan, Veronica, and Mac still waited. "Grace Carmichael, that was my name. I guess it still is but nobody used it since I was maybe seven? I've been Parker all this time," she shrugged.

Seven years old and she rebuilt her whole identity, that's what she seemed to be saying. Right now, Eliot would swear he was looking at a grown woman but seeing only the child she spoke of. She looked lost, completely at a loss as to know what she was supposed to do with this situation, with this guy that was potentially her kid brother. The trouble was, Eliot had no idea how to make it better. He wanted to, but he really couldn't. Fortunately, he knew a man that could. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his earbud and slid it into his ear.

"Hardison? We got a potential situation."

_August 15th, 2009, 01:34 PST - Los Angeles, California._

"Say, what?" said Hardison, sitting up fast. "Eliot, that you, bro? Hey, I wasn't sleepin'!" he insisted as he came to on the bed and cast an eye towards the clock. "I wouldn't be sleepin' at... Hold on a second, it past one o'clock in the _morning_," he said then, clearly unamused by being woken up at such a moment.

"_Dammit, Hardison, I ain't got time for this crap!" _said Eliot's voice in his ear._ "I need you check something for me... for Parker."_

That was all it took to really get the hacker in a business-ready position. Parker meant too much to be ignored, and so Hardison was upright with the computer buzzing within a beat. He listened to what Eliot had to say, though he had a feeling he wasn't getting the whole story somehow.

"You want me to run a search on Logan Echolls and Veronica Mars?" the hacker checked. "You crazy, bro? You never heard of them folks?"

"_Would I be asking you if I had?" _came the tetchy response.

"Man, Logan Echolls is like a legend in the celebrity world," Hardison explained, Google left completely unused. "His parents were both movie stars back in the day, we're talking major names. His Mom, Lynn, she committed suicide before Logan even got out of high school. His Dad, Aaron, boy, he was bad news. Almost went down for killing Logan's ex-squeeze, and then wound up dead his own self, shot through the head execution style in some hotel."

"_Please don't say the Neptune Grand,"_ said Parker's voice, a surprise to Hardison for more than one reason.

"Yeah, how'd you...? Oh, man. I'm sorry mama. That's the hotel I booked you into, huh?" he apologised immediately.

"_Doesn't matter now,"_ Eliot insisted, and just like that he was gone, Parker too.

"Guys? Guys!" Hardison continued to yell, but all to no avail. "Hey, Nate? Sophie? You guys get any of that?"

There was no answer from them either and Hardison started to grumble as he realised he had been left completely alone here. Nobody appreciated him, nobody cared to keep him in the loop.

"Not like it matters. I just the hacker, who needs me, right?" he complained, taking out his own earbud now. "Let's see how well you do next time you call and I ain't here!"

_August 15th, 2009, 01:55 PST - Neptune, California._

"You think they're okay?" asked Mac, craning her neck to see past Veronica and Logan.

"They're thieves," the blonde sighed. "I'd be more worried about the valuables than those people right now."

"She's my sister," Logan cut in, his tone completely flat as he dropped down into the armchair behind him. "That thief, Parker, Grace, whatever her name is, she's... she's my sister, Veronica," he said, looking up at her with such a haunted expression

"Logan," she said carefully, moving to crouch by the chair and take his hands in her own. "Y'know, that's not definite yet..."

"Yes, it is," said Parker as she appeared behind them. "I mean, if your sister is Grace Carmicheal, then she's me. I'm her."

The poor girl was frowning hard as she realised she couldn't explain properly and was so completely overwhelmed by this whole situation. Mac couldn't help but notice she kept looking to her friend, gaining confidence from his looks of encouragement. Maybe they were girlfriend and boyfriend now that she thought about it. They clearly trusted each other a whole lot. She would love to have a guy look at her like that, but as great as her boyfriends had been, she never had that. She wondered if she ever would.

"You're the hacker, right?" Eliot asked Mac, startling her from her thoughts then. "The one Hardison's been trying to keep off Parker's tail?"

"Um, I'm sorry, did you just say Hardison?" she shook her head so hard, Mac's eyeballs felt like they were going to come out. "Alec Hardison? I was up against Alec Hardison? Oh my God!"

She looked just about ready to pass out, and Eliot had no idea why. He certainly wasn't about to ask. This situation was weird enough already. Besides his attention was soon taken again as Logan got up and walked over to him and Parker.

"Hey, big sister?" he tried with a crooked smile, but just as with Veronica, as soon as he reached for Parker she flinched away, almost hiding completely behind Eliot.

"She doesn't hug," the hitter told Logan. "No offence to you personally, she just doesn't."

Logan nodded in understanding, but his smile didn't fade. He just found a sister he never thought he was going to be able to find. That was enough for now.

_To Be Continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

_**(for disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 6

_August 15th, 2009, 06:15 PST - Los Angeles, California._

"You're up early," said Nate as Sophie slipped into his room unannounced.

It wasn't as if he had slept in at all, that much was clear to the grifter since he was out on the balcony, mostly dressed, with a drink in his hand.

"I barely slept," she admitted as she wandered over, frowning some until she was close enough to know for sure Nate's drink was only water. "I can't stop thinking about this Keith Mars bloke," she sighed.

"Really?" he checked, tilting his head as he stared at her.

That made Sophie smirk.

"Not like that," she rolled her eyes. "Though he was quite attractive and charming. Not at all intimidated by my FBI persona. Quiet confidence is a wonderful quality in a man," she sighed, almost dreamily.

She leant on the balcony rail and looked out over the city as it woke to a new morning.

"Mostly I thought he was just, y'know, bald and old looking," Nate groused, as Sophie bit her lip.

Another useful quality most men possessed was the ability to get ridiculously jealous at a moments notice. Nate was so easy to play. Not so fast to actually admit any real feelings he might have for her, but Sophie was convinced of his affections in plenty of other ways. He was looking decidedly green at the mere mention of Keith Mars being a nice guy. That would do nicely.

"Honestly, I just don't think he bought my story," she admitted then, back to business since it was pretty important right now. "And if he did, well, I don't think he's all that bothered anyway. What if he doesn't back down? This could get very messy, Nate, and we're two people down already," she said, looking sideways up at him.

The mastermind looked decidedly thoughtful, swirling his drink around in the glass as if it were the scotch he were used to. There was a lot to consider. The fact Carling and Jenson were in this scam together made it a bigger deal than they originally thought, but still the same thing in its base form. Two marks were actually better than one, it gave you someone to play off against the other. Of course, Sophie wasn't wrong about them being short of bodies, or about this Keith Mars potentially getting in the way.

"Maybe we can use the P.I. to our advantage," he considered. "Anticipate his next move, and build the con off the back of what he's trying to pull. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have an extra person in play, if we can trust him to do the right thing."

"Hardison ran a pretty extensive background check. It all checks out," Sophie shrugged. "From his case history, he doesn't seem to take on anything he can't handle, not unless his daughter is in trouble. Then all bets are off. Y'know, he almost got himself shot, beaten to death, and burnt alive all in one night to save her once? That's true heroism."

Nate felt positively sick, hearing Sophie talk this guy up so much. He turned and walked away, muttering about the word hero being way too over-used these days. Sophie only smiled and continued to enjoy the view.

_August 15th, 2009, 06:44 PST - Neptune, California._

Parker couldn't sleep. She had been lying in this bed for five hours staring at the ceiling, and now it was driving her crazy. It was Eliot that had insisted she try to get some rest. He seemed pretty convinced by now that the people they'd met were telling the truth about Logan being her sister, but he was just as insistent that two in the morning wasn't a good time to talk about it. Now they were in their suite, one floor down from Logan Echolls, Parker's presumed half-brother. It felt too weird, and there was no way her brain would be quiet and still enough to let her rest.

Out of bed now, wearing nothing but the short-shorts and and vest top she usually slept in, she padded through to the living room area. Eliot was watching some motorcycle race on the TV, arms along the back of the couch and feet up on the table. He flipped the TV off the second she came in and looked up at her.

"You get any sleep?" he asked, trying not to let is eyes linger too long on all the flesh she was showing - that never did come easy with Parker.

"Nope," she admitted, coming over to drop down next to him with a dull thud. "You?"

"Couple of hours," he shrugged. "It was all I needed."

She nodded along in understanding. He had told the team before how he only slept ninety minutes a day. She didn't quite believe that he could do that all the time and survive, but sometimes it seemed to be true enough. Right now it was the very last thing she cared to think about.

"Parker, talk to me," he urged, his fingers brushing her shoulder and making her look up from her own lap. "It's okay if you're freaked out, y'know? It's normal."

"Is it?" she asked with a hint of painfully hollow laughter. "Normal. Yeah, because I'm so normal," she sniffed, but showed no true sign of tears. "I'm so far from a normal person. You tell me all the time that there's something wrong with me, and there is, I know there is."

Eliot hated to hear her say that, to realise that she might have taken his words so seriously. It was true enough that he called her crazy plenty of times, twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag, in fact. He never really thought she'd take these things to heart, that she'd end up believing there was genuinely something wrong with her. He never did mean that. Well, maybe the first time they met, but he knew her better now. They were friends somehow. He didn't want her believing he thought she was less than a person or something worse.

"Parker, there's nothing wrong with you. Not really," he assured her, his hand moving to her chin so he could stop her looking down.

"Then, why?" she asked him desperately. "Why was I the baby he gave away? His father, _my_ father, he kept Logan, but not me."

Eliot bit his lip, feeling awful. He didn't have the answers Parker was looking for, there was no way he ever could. From what he got out of Veronica before they left, Aaron Echolls was somewhat of a player, got Parker's mother pregnant then cut and ran without a care, ran straight back to Lynn who he would go on to marry, and that was where Logan came from. It was harsh, cruel, and painful. There were no good answers, no excuses, and nothing that could possibly make it better, but damn it, Eliot was going to try.

"Listen to me, darlin'," he said, shifting a little closer, not entirely surprised when Parker leaned her head against his arm. "I can't tell you why the guy left your Mom, or why she didn't want to raise you herself. I wanna think she had good reasons, maybe she did, I can't know that. What I do know is, they're the ones that missed out," he promised her. "Parker, you're an amazing woman. Somebody ought to tell you that once in a while, 'cause then maybe you wouldn't be sittin' here thinking this is all your fault. It's not."

Nobody ever talked to her so beautifully, looked at her so kindly as in that moment, Parker was certain of it, and it made her want to cry, even though it made so sense. Tears were for when you were sad, and despite everything that was confusing and weird right now, she had plenty of reasons to be happy. Sure her parents had abandoned her, but she already knew that, had known it her whole life. Today she had found a brother, a small piece of family that she never thought to have before. He wanted to find her, had made all kinds of effort, and now they were here in the same place. She had a little brother.

"You really think he'll like me?" she asked Eliot in earnest. "Logan, I mean. You don't think he'll just say I'm weird and tell me to go away?"

"If he says that, I'll hit him," said the hitter simply and in complete seriousness.

Parker smiled.

"Thank you, Eliot," she told him, leaning in to hug him, albeit briefly.

He was so startled, Eliot almost didn't have time to hug her back before she was gone from his sight. So much for what he told Logan and Veronica about her not being a hugger. Maybe she could learn yet.

_August 15th, 2009, 08:12 PST - Neptune, California._

"Logan what are you doing?" asked Veronica, sitting up in bed.

Something big was always going on when he was up and at 'em before ten on a non-school day. Of course, she already knew what the main part of the big deal was, and it all had to do with another blonde one floor down in the hotel. Veronica might be jealous if it weren't for the fact the attractive lithe-bodied woman was Logan's half-sister.

"I can't just lie there thinking about it, Veronica," he shook his head as he pulled on his second shoe. "Parker could be leaving. That meat-head with her could be convincing her to run away. I can't lose her, not when I just found her. I can't lose any more family..."

"Hey," she interrupted his rambling and got in his path when he tried to leave. "Logan, listen to me," she said, taking his face in her hands so he had to look at her. "I understand, I do, but you cannot just go storming into their room and demanding a brother-sister conference," she advised him seriously.

Logan opened his mouth to protest but closed it again just as fast. He'd already screwed up once in the past twenty four hours, yelling at Veronica like all this had been her fault, probably making her cry whilst he went out drinking until he fell down. The upside to his expedition to the bar was that he had found Grace or Parker or whatever he was supposed to call her now. That didn't change the fact he'd been a complete ass to Veronica... again.

"I know you're trying to help," he said, taking a breath and calming down just little bit. "Seriously, Veronica, I could not be happier that you're here, that you and Mac helped me out so much, that you did not let me make too much of a fool of myself when I was drunk."

"All part of the loving girlfriend service," she assured him with a smile, letting her arms slip up around his neck.

"But I need to go see my sister," he continued. "She's the only blood family within reach right now, and I can't just let her slip away. I can't."

There was such desperation in his eyes. Veronica couldn't say she'd never seen it before, but when it appeared, she knew he was very serious. She did understand. She only had her Dad left but it made all the difference. If he was gone, she would be devastated, and any chance to make a connection with any other person who might understand, might want to help rebuild a relationship, she would go for it too. They were alike that way, and in so many others, truth be told. It was why it was so easy to love each other, and hate each other in equal measure in the past. Logan and Veronica were just too similar sometimes.

"Okay," she said eventually. "Let me call the front desk, see if they can patch me through to the room. I'll ask Parker if she's up for a visit, and we'll go from there. Deal?"

Logan smirked.

"You might have to get past her trained monkey first," he warned her, leaning in to plant a light kiss on her lips.

"I don't scare easy, remember?" she smiled back at him.

A moment later she was walking out of the bedroom, and Logan was enjoying the view of said walk until she was hidden by the door that closed itself. She was an amazing woman, and he really didn't deserve her. He wasn't sure he could deserve to have a sister either, but she was here and he really wanted to try.

People called Parker crazy, so things might work out yet. Logan had been rumoured to be much worse in his time, and he had to admit not all of it was exaggerated. They were two broken people in their own different ways, but that might just be what they needed to make a real connection that was more than just half the blood and DNA they shared.

Logan knew he ought to be prepared for this all to go horribly wrong, just like it had before with Charlie, but he couldn't. Foolish as it may seem from the outside looking in, despite all the tragedy he and Veronica had experienced first hand, through family, friends, and otherwise, he still had hope. Logan didn't feel he had any other choice.

_August 15th, 2009, 08:57 PST - Neptune, California._

Awkward. That was a really good word for this situation. It was unlikely any of the four people here would argue with that, though of course they had no idea they were all thinking it as one.

When Veronica called Parker on Logan's behalf, she had expected said blonde's muscle-bound friend to answer. Once again she asked him what his name was, because referring to him as the 'angry man' was getting real old, real fast. Besides, as she pointed out, now she knew he ran in the crew with Parker and Alec Hardison, she had the resources to figure it out anyway, given a little time. Grudgingly, he had admitted he was Eliot Spencer, and Veronica tried her best not to react badly. She was only glad he couldn't see her via the phone when she physically winced. Getting over herself fast, she told him that Logan would love to see Parker, and so invited the pair up to the suite for breakfast. Now, here they were right on time at nine o'clock, and not one amongst them knew what to say.

Veronica was acutely aware that she was now sitting at a table next to her boyfriend, opposite a crazy thief and a man with a reputation for violence. The fact the thief was Logan's half-sister and the violent man was said thief-sister's boyfriend, it was just a little too much to handle.

"So," she said at length. "How long have you guys been together?"

The way Parker exploded into a fit of laughter made everybody jump. Eliot looked annoyed but inside felt a little hurt. The idea of dating him really shouldn't be so funny, especially not to Parker, though he couldn't explain why her laughter stung so very much more than anyone else's might've done.

"We're on the same team, friends even, but not together," he explained to Veronica.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied, shifting in her seat.

She wouldn't meet Eliot's gaze and the hitter knew why. People were afraid of Eliot Spencer if they knew his reputation from before, and it seemed that Veronica did. He wondered how a chick like her would have any idea about people like them. He wanted to ask, but right now didn't feel like the right time. They were here for Parker to get to know Logan, if that was what she wanted. Right now, he doubted even she knew for sure.

"When did you change your name to Parker?" asked Logan then, clearly going for a subject change, or maybe he was just inquisitive.

"I was seven," she shrugged. "I guess officially I'm still Grace, but..." she shook her head as if that were explanation enough and Logan smiled.

"Well, that's cool. I get that," he told her. "Sometimes I think about changing my name. Y'know, 'cause our father wasn't exactly saintly."

"Who is these days?" chuckled Veronica, though there was no real humour in it as her eyes passed quickly over Eliot. "Um, so I'm gonna order food, since we are here for breakfast," she said, scrambling to her feet. "What do we want? Eggs, bacon?"

"Cereal," Parker said abruptly. "Anything with sugar is good. Lots of sugar."

"Hey, we really are related," Logan smiled, asking Veronica for the very same thing.

"Eliot?" she said stiffly, as the hitter rose from his seat.

"You got a room service menu over here somewhere?" he asked, moving past Veronica and towards where the phone was laying waiting for her.

Seemed they were going to have a talk whether she wanted to or not. Veronica wasn't scared exactly. She couldn't imagine even Spencer beat on girls for no reason at all, especially not in front of his friend and her brother. It made her wish she was within grabbing distance of Mr Sparky though.

"Y'know, Veronica, you don't have to be afraid of me," he smirked as they got out of earshot of the unlikely siblings a the table. "I'm not the guy you think I am."

"Really? Guy that kills people for money? Rumoured to have been crimelord Damien Moreau's right hand man? You're not that guy?" she asked him out straight, arms folded across her chest defensively.

Eliot's smile faltered into a frown but recovered fast. His lips twitched with words he didn't really want to say until he found the right ones.

"I _was_ that guy," he admitted. "I'd love to know how _you_ know that, sweetheart, but either way, I ain't him anymore," he told her seriously. "This team, these people I work with? They pretty much turned me around. We're the good guys now. We take down the corrupt businessmen, the assholes that screw over the little guy, everyone who hurts innocent people. The ones the cops and lawyers can't or won't help."

Veronica stared into his baby blue eyes and looked for any sign of a lie. She found none. Sure, these people were professionals, thieves and grifters, but she was a hell of a detective. She was pretty sure she would know if what he said was untrue. The truth was, she believed him.

"You help the helpless," she nodded once. "I heard there were people doing that for a living now. I didn't know one of them was you."

"Well, now you do," he shrugged easily, not the least offended by her earlier behaviour, because he did understand. "So, how does a nice girl like you know so much about the past of a bad guy like me?" he asked her with genuine interest.

"Don't mistake me for a nice girl, Spencer," she smirked herself then.

Veronica turned to grab her purse from the couch. A moment later she was handing him a couple of items she'd retrieved. His eyes went wide at the sight of first a Private Investigators badge and then an I.D. card that had allowed her access to the basic levels of the F.B.I. security. His panic must have showed just a little because she quashed it in a moment.

"It's okay," she told him, glancing back at the ever-fragile seeming Parker a moment as Logan tried to make conversation with her. "I'm not about to have you two arrested for anything. I swear, we had no idea..."

"I don't care about that," said Eliot, now on his feet. "You're Veronica _Mars_?" he read from the card and badge she'd handed him.

"Yeah, why?" she checked, suddenly feeling like he turned over two pages at once somewhere.

Across the room, Logan and Parker were oblivious to what was going on with his girlfriend and her friend. As far as they knew, breakfast was being ordered and that was all. He was just trying to engage his older half-sister in any kind of conversation they could manage. It was not proving easy.

"So, do you remember your Mom?" he asked, at which she shook her head. "And you never knew my Dad was your Dad?"

Another head shake, and that was it.

"Um, is there anything you wanna ask me, Parker?" he tried next, watching her as she stared down at her latest project, balancing books of complimentary hotel matches on top of each other on the table. "I mean, I know this is weird for you. You never came to Neptune expecting a brother."

"I expected a stalker or a cop or something," she snorted. "Believe me, you were a _nice_ surprise."

"Thanks, I think," he chuckled in response, and she joined in because she supposed that did sound a little strange to him.

"So, do you... do we have any more brothers and sisters?" asked Parker, letting her matchbook tower come tumbling down as she looked up at her apparent sibling.

"Uh, well, I have one adopted sister, Trina, so I guess she's not really related to you so much..." he admitted, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Then there's Charlie Stone, the result of another of my... _our_ Dad's many affairs," he amended. "I kinda screwed up with him though, which is something I really don't wanna do with you."

"Okay," Parker nodded along. "I'm probably the one who will screw up anyway. I have no idea how to be a big sister. I mean... well, I could teach you to pick locks?" she tried hopefully.

"Veronica tried that," he rolled his eyes. "It's really more her area than mine, but hey, I'm willing to give it another try. You have to be the expert, right? Maybe even more than my girlfriend."

With a grin like a kid at Christmas, Parker produced a padlock from her back pocket and a couple of picks from another to her side. Logan stared at her and she stared back a moment before she spoke.

"You're not gonna time me?" she checked, looking baffled that he hadn't automatically been prepared for that.

Logan caught on fast, grabbing his cell and finding the stop watch setting. He told her 'go' as he hit the button and then watched with amazement as she cracked the lock open in practically the blink of an eye. Stopping the stopwatch more or less on automatic, his eyes shifted over and he was still startled to see the tiny number of seconds it had taken.

"Three point five seven seconds," he said aloud.

Parker huffed and blew her bangs off her forehead.

"Really? I can usually do it pretty fast."

Logan laughed at that and was about to ask her how the hell she did such a thing, when suddenly Eliot was leaning over the table at the both of them, Veronica on his heels.

"Damnit, Hardison!" he barked to nobody they could see. "Listen to me!"

Eliot gestured for Parker to put her earbud in and she did as instructed, just in time to hear Hardison insist he was listening, but it was rude of the hitter to keep jumping on comms and expecting everyone to hop too.

"I'm not kidding around, man, this is important. Nate? Sophie? You online?" he asked the other two, but no answer came.

"They down for the night still. Won't be back for another half hour," Hardison confirmed. "What you got? You figure out this hacker thing yet?"

"Oh yeah. It was a girl," Parker told him.

"Seriously? A chick was throwing down that code?" Hardison gasped. "Hell, I don't wanna be no sexist pig nor nothin', but I never met a woman who could do that kinda voodoo on a computer."

"This ain't the frickin' Geek Fanclub Annual Meeting, Hardison!" Eliot barked in his ear. "We got a situation here. We need extra rooms back in L.A., for two more... maybe three," he confirmed.

"You bringing in civilians?" asked his hacker friend, even as he pulled up the website that would allow him to book out another suite next door to the one he, Eliot, and Parker were supposed to be sharing.

"Yes and no," he confirmed, looking between Parker, Logan, and Veronica now.

"What the hell, Veronica?" her boyfriend asked her in a low voice as Eliot and Parker continued to talk to no-one via devices at their ear that were practically untraceable.

"They're the good guy thieves now, they help people," she explained. "Logan, their latest marks are the same guys my Dad is after in L.A." she told him the, looking truly panicked. "He could be in serious danger."

_To Be Continued..._


	7. Chapter 7

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 7

_August 15th, 2009, 14:12 PST - Los Angeles, California._

Nate wasn't happy. It wasn't a great shock given the circumstances, but it was damn obvious even in his silence as he paced the hotel room carpet. He hadn't wanted to let the mark see him and Sophie with the rest of the team for the sake of the con. Now they were having to risk it because things had gone decidedly south. He had come over to the suite Eliot, Parker, and Hardison were sharing in dark glasses, a long coat, a hat, and even a blonde wig to hide his identity. Now he was without all these things, looking as the mastermind ever did, except a lot more freaked out than he'd ever been before. It didn't help that he didn't feel able to speak his mind because of the people here present. Members of his team were one thing, but these 'civilians' from Neptune made him nervous, not least because their links to both his team and his con were altogether too many.

"You'll forgive me for being cautious," he said, casting an eye over Veronica, Logan, and Mac. "How do we know that you are who you say you are?" he checked.

"Does it matter right now?" asked Veronica glaring up at him. "You're supposed to be this great mastermind, the man with a plan. Come up with one, now, or I'll do it myself, your Robin Hood fantasies be damned!"

Logan put a hand on her arm in an attempt to calm her down. Yelling at each other wasn't helping but he could understand her pain. All the way up here from Neptune, things had been pretty fraught. Keith was clearly mixed up in something bigger than he realised. They'd been an hour away from the hotel when the worst news came through Eliot and Parker's earbuds.

_**Flashback**_ - _August 15th, 2009, 12:01 PST_

"Hardison, you there?" called Nate through the earbuds, unaware then that he could be heard by the rest of his team as well right now.

"Where the hell you been, man?" asked Eliot angrily as he continued his drive into L.A.

"A lot has been going on," came the reply in his ear.

"You don't know the half of it," said Parker with a burst of laughter that was so inappropriate right now.

All Veronica, Logan, and Mac could do was listen to one side of this group conversation from their place in the backseat of the car. The computer whiz had said she could probably pick up the signal on her laptop so they could all hear, but Hardison had advised against it, sure the feedback would cause issues.

"Whatever has happened with your hacker, Parker, we'll deal with it later," the mastermind advised. "Sophie's been taken."

"T-taken?" Hardison echoed. "What the hell happened? She was supposed to be with you at the hotel."

"She wasn't convinced this Keith Mars would do what she wanted," sighed Nate, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand, wishing he'd poured a scotch before he began this conversation. "She went back over to his motel..."

"That must've been when I offlined when you two was gettin' all mushy and snarky," the hacker muttered, now sorry he had missed such important info.

"What happened, Nate?" Eliot cut through the crap as he checked the lights up ahead and pulled up to a halt when it turned red.

"I don't know exactly. Somebody came into the motel room. Sophie's earbud picked up another voice, but... but she must've taken a hit or something because after that, nothing but static," explained Nate with a shake in his voice that made Parker shudder.

If their leader was this freaked out then things were bad. If someone had Sophie and was hurting her, that was _very_ bad.

"You think they got Mars too?" asked Eliot, looking at Veronica in the rear view as she sat bolt up right in her seat, straining against the safety belt.

"I'm guessing, yes," Nate confirmed.

_August 15th, 2009, 14:14 PST - Neptune, California._

"So, the situation is this," said Nate, contemplating the empty glass in his hand. "We have one grifter and one P.I. captured by what we presume to be one of our marks or their associates."

Eliot watched him as the cogs in his mind turned faster with every passing moment. He was trying to step outside of the problem, that was what Nate had to do when things got personal, else risk drowning in the emotion of it all. He knew because he did the same thing half the time. Parker could do it too. It was guys like Hardison who never could.

As it was, the hacker himself was sat at the table now, Mac beside him as the two of them worked their joint mojo, or whatever they called it. They were hacking security cameras at the motel, the long way around. Pulling up all known addresses for both Carling and Jenson, any properties in L.A. or the surrounding area leased by them, their companies, anywhere they might take people they'd kidnapped. Eliot had faith they'd find something, they had to. Sophie mattered to them so much, and he could see how worked up Veronica was over her Dad, even before she almost tore Nate's head off.

"So long as we can find them, we can bust them out, right?" said Parker hopefully. "I mean, whatever security or muscle they have, we have an Eliot," she shrugged easily.

The hitter smiled briefly at her for the sentiment of her words. It was sweet that she believed in him that much. Still, hostage situations were that much tougher sometimes. He had to worry about protecting those people whilst bringing the bad guys down. These dudes could be carrying knives, guns, or something less conventional like syringes of ricin, a device that triggered a bomb under a chair. It was a lot of variables, and they didn't even come into play until they tracked down where Sophie and Mars had been taken. They weren't even sure which guy had taken them yet!

"How tough can a couple of money launderers really be?" asked Logan in earnest. "Seriously? That bad?" he answered his own question off the looks cast his way by not just the team of thieves but his girlfriend too. "I stand corrected."

"Hey, Nate," Hardison called for attention then. "I got something" he told him as the mastermind wandered over. "I went back through the records I pulled in the initial research on Carling and Jenson. This is a list of everyone on their payroll, and this..." he paused as he pulled up a new list onto the T.V. screen everyone had a decent view of. "This here is his security personnel. Willing to bet our kidnappers are on that list right there."

"These kidnappers right here?" asked Mac with a smirk she couldn't help as she threw up a series of pictures on the screen besides Hardison's lists.

"Damn, girl!" the hacker grinned as he realised what she'd done

Not only had Mac gotten into the motel security cameras, she had pulled up stills of the faces of the kidnappers on their way into _and_ out of Keith Mars room. Then she'd cleaned up the pictures until they were almost perfectly clear. She really was the computer genius her friends said she was apparently.

"I got skills, right?" she said, smiling widely at Hardison, despite the seriousness of the situation they were caught in right now.

"For that? You get this," he declared, offering her a high five that she gratefully accepted.

"Okay, so how do we know which name goes with which face?" asked Logan with genuine curiosity. "And how the hell does that help us find Keith and your friend Sophie?"

"Hey, don't go gettin' all up in my face, man," Hardison held up his hands in mock surrender. "Nobody said this stuff was easy, and I don't see you movin' your rich ass to help anyhow."

"Hardison!" Parker snapped at the hacker for his attitude. "Logan is just worried for his friend... girlfriend's father... for Keith," she settled on eventually. "I'm just as worried about Sophie. So what do we do next?"

"Their vehicle," said Veronica suddenly after too long of being still and quite. "You have pictures of these men from the security cameras. There must be CCTV pointing into the parking lot in case of car theft, so you can find out what vehicle they left in and track that, right?" she suggested, on her feet now as she looked to Mac and Hardison for help.

"Yeah, I guess we can do that," he agreed, looking over at Mac's screen.

She easily switched windows and networked the correct video feed to Hardison. After all of a minute tapping away on the keyboard, he had an I.D. on a black van. Next minute he was tracing it all the way down the streets of L.A. to the warehouse district. At that point, he lost it.

"Any of those warehouses owned by Carling, Jenson, or either of their companies?" asked Nate, pouring another shot.

"Yes," Mac replied since she seemed to have found it first on Hardison's long list. "Unit 42A on the south side of the site. A subsidiary of a holding company that acts as a shell company for Carling's Boden Inc." she declared, throwing that up onto the communal screen too.

"Okay, so we know where and we know roughly who," said the mastermind thoughtfully.

"Next comes a plan, right?" said Parker, practically bounding in her seat. "Don't worry, he's really good with plans," she whispered to Logan who was sat beside her and Veronica next to him. "I know it doesn't seem like it with the booze and the attitude, but he really is."

"Thank you, Parker," said Nate in such a way as to say he wasn't entirely grateful, but she failed to notice the underlying sarcasm it seemed. "Okay, I know how we're going to do this, but it's dependant on a few things."

"Like what?" asked Logan when no-one else seemed willing too.

"Are you and your law-abiding friends here willing to come over to our side of the tracks to make this happen?" he asked seriously, sipping at his scotch. "And perhaps more importantly, are you as good an actor as your father was?"

_August 15th, 2009, 16:02 PST - Los Angeles, California._

Eliot didn't like Logan. He couldn't put his finger on exactly one real reason why. They now had proof, or as close as they could possibly get, that he really was Parker's younger half brother. Logan was the kid of movie stars, rich enough that he didn't need to screw over the team for anything. He probably did just want to make a connection here, but something about him unsettled Eliot. Perhaps it was as simple as the fact his mission to find Parker had initially upset her and since then had confused her. The hitter didn't like to see his thief friend suffer or be hurt in anyway. Still, whether he liked the kid or not, he was willing to admit he was much braver than he ever could've expected.

"You sure you got this, man?" asked Hardison from the van.

Logan stuck his finger in his ear, still not used to the earbud.

"I got it," he said definitely, looking sideways at Veronica. "This is family, everybody's family," he explained simply, glancing from his girlfriend to Parker, then Eliot and Nate.

A single nod of confirmation shared, Logan turned towards the building marked up as 42A and walked forward. Mac spoke in his ear then, also in the van with her fellow computer expert. She told him there was a second exit to the warehouse, a back door that he might use if things got bad. The locks were electronic and she and Hardison had already tripped both. The front door was the way in, Logan had to make an entrance, but the back door was for emergency use if things went awry.

"I honestly didn't think he'd have it in him," said Eliot as he watched the kid walk in to a potentially volatile situation.

The was a chuckle of laughter in all their ears then, and that made even the panicking Veronica smile. Logan could hear everything through the comms, and she already knew he was going to answer Eliot's muttering.

"Hey, never underestimate the size of my cojones."

"Huh," Parker made a face and looked to Eliot. "What are...?"

"Don't ask, Parker," he growled back at her - she didn't get it.

"Okay, he in," said Hardison over the earbuds.

He and Mac had eyes in the sky thanks to a few cameras they managed to hack in the warehouse district. It didn't help with what was going on inside, but then that was what Logan was for.

"Here we go" said Nate with a smirk as Logan began his 'performance'.

Eliot smiled as he realised that the kid wasn't just playing drunk, he was playing himself drunk, just exactly as he had been two nights ago when he and Parker picked him up off the bar-room floor.

"Great," Parker huffed. "I _just_ got that dumb Veronica song out of my head!" she complained as Logan started up with singing it, slurring drunkenly and staggering all over the place.

Maybe the woman who owned the name might've made a comment if she wasn't concentrating so hard on what her boyfriend was doing. Veronica didn't panic when she was in danger herself, very rarely anyway, because she trusted she could get out of it. This was her father in trouble, and Logan putting himself in the line of fire too. It did help knowing there was a whole team here to help, including the best thief the world had ever seen and Eliot Spencer, known the world over for doing what he did. These guys had no idea who they were up against.

"_Get out of here, kid," _said a voice over Logan's earbud.

Much like on any normal day, he didn't listen. He was going to start pissing people off right about now, Nate could tell, and that was what the entire plan was built around.

"Hey, who you calling a kid?" he asked, getting up in the face of the guy who'd spoken - Carling, Jenson, a flunky, he had no idea and didn't care - "You know who I am, _pal_?" he asked with a definite slur.

"I don't think anybody cares right now," said Sophie, still in the Boston accent she'd been using as her FBI cover. "Get the hell out before you get yourself in a lot o' trouble," she told him, flicking her hair over her shoulder with a single movement of her head.

Logan glanced her way, then at Keith sat next to her. They were sat on a pair of chairs, barely two feet apart, their arms bound behind them. He wasn't sure whether to think it was a good or bad thing that Veronica's Dad appeared to be unconscious. At least he couldn't blow Logan's cover when he was out cold, but there was no telling what kind of injury he might've suffered. The boy actor refused to react, he had a job to do here.

"Hey, who wants your opinion?" asked Logan of Sophie. "What're you gonna do anyway, lady tied to a chair?"

Eliot shared a look with Nate. They were making a plan of the room in their heads, not just the two of them but Parker and Veronica too. Everything Logan said next would be a tip off to how many bad guys there were, where they were stood.

"And your buddy looks like he had even more to drink than me," he said pointedly.

Sophie read a hint of something in Logan's expression, watched as his hand went briefly to his ear. She bit back a smile and turned it into a smirk, scoffing at his words.

"Man couldn't take one punch," she huffed. "He'll live."

Logan nodded once, shrugging off the hands that landed on his shoulders from behind.

"Hey, watch the shirt man, that's designer!" he said, turning around fast and deliberately tripping over his own feet.

From the floor, he started laughing, spinning around on his butt like a kid, complete with 'wheee!' noises. It gave him a chance to scope out the whole area. The back door was clear, no guards, but then these goons assumed it was locked, so why would they bother to guard it?

"Woah," he said as he stopped spinning, shaking his head dizzily. "Is there really six of you guys or am I seeing double?" he asked. "Seriously? Three either side of me, right?"

"Six guys is easy," said Eliot so that everybody heard through their earbuds even if they weren't with him in person.

"You still don't know exactly where they are or if they're armed," Veronica pointed out.

"Like it matters," chuckled Parker. "But..."

"Okay, that's enough," said a new voice in the warehouse that made everyone present pay attention.

"Man, now here comes the big guns," said Hardison, clicking away on his keyboard.

"Logan, that man who just walked in is Carling," said Mac urgently. "If what me and Hardison are seeing on this camera is what it looks like, I think... I think he just shot Jenson."

"What the hell?" Eliot started, looking left and right. "We didn't hear a damn thing!"

"Silencers, man," Hardison told him crossly. "How you think they got their name?"

"Guys, Logan is in there!" Parker yelled perhaps slightly too loudly then. "He's... He's not one of us. That's my brother. We have to get him out."

She made to run off but it was Veronica that grabbed her arm, even as she heard a gun being cocked through the earbud. She shook her head in silence and turned her head till she met Parker's gaze.

"It's okay," she promised her. "Logan can handle himself, I promise."

She was exuding more confidence than she truly felt in this moment, but if there was one thing she had learnt to do over her years with Logan, it was that she had to trust him. He always came through, always, even when the odds were entirely against it. The same could be said for her Dad. Sophie's words had struck a chord with Nate who gave Veronica an encouraging look, even when there was talk of Papa Mars being knocked out. He wasn't so bad, she knew he wasn't.

"Don't tell me, you're _el jefe_, right?" asked Logan, laughing long and loud as he scrambled to his feet.

He ignored the gun pointed at his chest, thought nothing of the three muscle-bound freaks either side of him. They were clearly lackeys, just watching over the prisoners until the boss got back. Now Carling was here, Jenson was dead, and things just got serious. That didn't stop Logan from laughing, it never had before, so why let things change now.

"You picked the wrong place at the wrong time to put your drunk ass, kid," said Carling with a shake of his head.

"Y'know, this whole 'kid' thing is getting old," Logan sighed. "I'll bet my friend is gonna be pissed when I tell him how badly I was treated in this establishment. I left him right out front..." he said turning as if to leave and fetch said friend.

Two muscle monkeys stood in his path, whilst Carling sent two others to 'check it out'.

"I got it," Eliot growled, as his feet pounded on concrete then.

Once they were gone from sight, Logan knew damn well they wouldn't be coming back.

"Isn't it obvious, Carling?" asked Sophie, getting his attention then. "He's the distraction for whoever is really after you and Jenson! To think the agency actually thought you were smart..."

"Shut the hell up!" yelled the businessman turned murderer swinging the gun around to point at the supposed FBI agent now.

"Okay, he's starting to panic, that's not a bad thing," said Nate in everyone's ear. "Phase two is right around the corner, but Logan, hold ground for now."

"Two down," said Eliot, wiping blood from under his nose - these guys might be just slightly better in a fight than he expected, but only slightly.

"That's my cue," grinned Parker, moving around back of the warehouse.

She didn't love the idea of breaking into Carling's car when there was a dead body right around the corner. Honestly, she was only glad to hear Mac say Jenson was out of sight of the vehicle so she wouldn't have to see it. God only knew how Nate figured on the guys coming back here just at the right time. It might have been better if his psychic abilities ran as far as knowing one would die today.

With a shudder that she did her best to supress, Parker tripped the lock on the car and slid into the divers seat. Her hands delved through the glove compartment, under the dash, everywhere that anything of value might be. She had Carling's phone from the charger in the centre divide, and a set of keys from the glove compartment in no time. Out of the car again, she pelted back past Nate and Veronica towards the van. Much like a tag team, the young P.I. took her queue ad pulled the radio transmitter up to her lips.

"This is FBI Agent Mars," her voice boomed over the tannoy system all around the warehouse district. "Gerald Carling, come out with your hands on your head."

The moment he was looking around for the disembodied voice, Logan and Eliot struck. The gun shot out of Carling's hand as the kid tackled him to the ground, whilst Eliot dispatched another two thugs in short order. A third got into Sophie's path and she spun around, clouting him with the chair she was still attached too. The plastic ties holding her were already loose from her straining and snapped with the force of her swing. She rushed to Keith to check on him, as Eliot took on the last two security guys, jumping out of their way so they ran head long into each other. One was out cold in a second. The other took one final punch to bring him down.

"Argh!" Logan made a sound of pain as Carling elbowed him in the stomach. "Asshole!" he yelled, making a grab for the guys legs even as he got away.

"Let him go, man," Eliot dived, taking a hold of Logan and literally lifting him onto his feet as Carling bolted out through the back door.

"Seriously? All this so you could let the bad guy go?" the younger man yelled angrily, wriggling free of the hitter's grip. "We don't do that."

"_It's okay, Logan,_" said Nate in his ear. "_He won't get far."_

Keith groaned as he came to with a little encouragement from Sophie. Eliot immediately went over to help get the guy out of his seat and bring him outside. Veronica was practically bouncing like Tigger with the anticipation. Her role had been strictly outside of the warehouse and wasn't quite done even when her friends and family emerged.

"Yes, sir," she was saying into her phone. "That's correct. Thank you, Agent Kaufman."

Just as soon as she hung up, she ran straight to her father and Logan, not really knowing who to hug first.

"Are you okay?" she asked Keith and then looked at her boyfriend with the same question in her eyes.

"Everybody's fine, thank God!" replied Sophie in her real English accent that as yet the Neptunions had not heard.

"I knew you were phoney," said Keith, eyes wide at her genuine voice. "I did. I called it."

"You're a very clever man, Mr Mars," she told him with a nod of her head. "Perhaps not with the most stamina for being hit, but clever, no question," she smiled.

"Sweetheart," he said then, looking to his daughter. "I think you got some 'splainin' to do," he told Veronica with a tired smile.

"First, let's get back to the hotel," advised Eliot. "I think I should take a look at your head, sir. No concussions on my watch."

As everyone headed towards the van as a group, Hardison slid open the side door and welcomed in as many as would fit. The rest would need to pile into Nate's hire car parked up around the corner. Parker jumped down from the back of Lucille and went straight over to Logan. She stopped right in front of him and shifted awkwardly, toeing the ground like an embarrassed little girl.

"You okay?" she checked, noting the blood on his cheek.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he assured her. "Thanks for asking, big sister," he smiled.

"No problem, little brother," she replied in kind, faking a punch to his shoulder.

For a second she thought about hugging him, especially when she looked over and saw Veronica with her arm around her father and Nate pulling Sophie closer. She couldn't quite do it. Eliot watched Parker watching everybody else a moment. She was really trying here. She seemed to be accepting Logan as her brother, and yet she had no idea what to do with the information or the feelings it probably conjured. When all the loose ends of this job were tied up, there'd be nothing left but for the two teams to face each other and the prospect of being forever connected by a pair of adult siblings that only met yesterday. He planned to have a talk with Parker about that, to make her a promise to help anyway he could. Logan may be her brother, but he didn't know Parker yet. Nobody knew her like Eliot did, the hitter was pretty certain on that, and somehow he'd prefer that didn't change any time soon.

_To Be Continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 8

_August 15th, 2009, 20:01 PST - Los Angeles, California._

There was plenty to figure out when the two teams of crime stoppers got back to the hotel. Hardison had long since switched Nate and Sophie into the same place as everybody else, since the job was over. Any cover they had was blown anyway now and the con was all but complete.

First thing to deal with had been introductions. Keith was stunned to realise the team that had helped save him, as well as bring down Carling and Jenson, were a bunch of famous thieves turned Robin Hood types. He had guessed right away that the glamorous looking FBI Agent was a phoney, and so Sophie had proved to be, but he never would have figured on her real identity.

The next shock had been finding out Logan and Parker were half-siblings via Aaron. Not that it was any surprise to realise Aaron had spawned more children with his many affairs, but Keith hadn't expected anything like the crazy blonde thief. Regardless of how strange the girl with one name seemed on the surface, she sure did seem to want to be Logan's friend, if not a sister. She made almost as much fuss over his possible injuries as Veronica did. Thankfully the kid was just fine, and Keith was too, according to Eliot.

That was perhaps the strangest part. Keith knew Spencer by reputation but had never seen his face until today. He was a killer, the worst kind of criminal, Keith would have said. Today he realised there was a whole other side to the hitter as Eliot checked people for injuries, patched up wounds, and worried for everyone. Keith himself was declared fit with only a mild concussion, and nothing that wouldn't heal with rest and fluids. Maybe Spencer's reputation was more rumour than substance, he didn't know for sure. All Keith was certain on was that these people, regardless of their pasts, had saved him. They had brought down two very bad guys, and they had done it all with the help of Veronica, Logan, and Mac.

The self-proclaimed computer nerd herself was as giddy as anyone had ever seen her. When Veronica wasn't fussing over Logan or trying to make connections with her boyfriend's new sister, she was watching Mac and Hardison. Her female BFF didn't have all that much luck with guys. Cassidy was the worst by a mile, but since then Bronson was just too different, and Max was too lazy. Alec Hardison was the perfect mix of uber-geek and cool. So much for opposites attracting, these two entirely similar people were definitely doing some serious connecting, Veronica could see that a mile away. She had reservations about her friend hooking up with a career criminal, obviously, but then the team had given up the worst of their crime-filled days. Anything they did outside of the law now was strictly to help others that the law itself did not cater for. Veronica understood that well enough. She and her Dad had done just the same from time to time... or possibly even a little more often than that!

"So," Logan was saying to Parker when Veronica tuned back into the conversation, "you think maybe we can figure out some kind of visiting arrangements?" he asked his sister, just slightly nervous about her possible reaction to that.

Parker was cool talking about her life, the jobs she pulled, how good she was at thievery. She nodded along and laughed at Logan's own tales, and all was good. He even shared a couple of the nicer memories of their Dad, though those were probably literally the only two he could come up with. Still, when things got serious, when he talked about them being blood and all, Parker clammed up so fast.

"Um, well..." she shifted against the couch cushions, her fingers lacing together as she stared down at them. "I don't know where I'm gonna be, with the jobs and everything, I... I have to go."

She was gone before Veronica or Logan could blink, out onto the balcony. Eliot noticed and immediately came over with a face like thunder.

"What did you say to her?" he asked crossly, immediately putting Logan on the defensive.

"Hey, easy Rocky, I did nothing," he said definitely, hands up in mock-surrender. "I just asked her when I can visit, or if she wanted to visit me."

The hitter drew in a breath and let it out. There was no percentage in getting mad at the kid. He didn't really do anything so very wrong. If Logan and Parker were normal people, this situation would be easier for everyone to handle. The truth was, they just weren't. Logan was different in his own way, but he had enough support from a young age by way of friends and at least a version of a family unit that he turned out pretty okay. Parker had waited too long to be loved, to feel like a part of something. She didn't know how to handle this, people caring. She was only just now starting to trust the team and let them into her life. A new brother out of the blue was just the best and worst thing flying at her all at once.

"I'll talk to her," he said, running a hand back through his hair.

Eliot had barely moved one step when Veronica called after him.

"We really didn't mean any harm," she promised. "She's... she's had it rough, hasn't she?"

"She really has," he agreed. "But y'know, having you guys around, she'll get used to it. Hell, she got used to us, and we're not exactly... well, we're not a _real_ family."

"I think that you are," Veronica told him with a warm smile, something she never ever thought she'd be putting Eliot Spencer's way.

Still, Veronica Mars learnt a very long-time ago that life could and would surprise you more often than you expected. She watched Eliot smile back at her, and then turn away to the doors that led out onto the balcony. Parker was leaning on the rail, looking out at the view. What Veronica couldn't see was how white her knuckles were as she gripped the metal. Eliot noticed immediately, and reached out to cover one of her hands with his own.

"Hey," he said carefully, glad Parker didn't flinch at the touch or his voice. "Ease up, Parker, you're gonna hurt yourself," he encouraged her, rubbing the back of her hand until she loosened her grip. She huffed out a breath as if frustrated then turned her back on the view, leaning on the railing now with her arms folded. Her eyes caught on the almost family-like scene inside the hotel room, only slightly obscured by the drapes blowing across gap between the open glass doors. Veronica was hugging her Dad, probably having the rest of their conversation about the what the hell had happened in the past couple of days. Logan was smiling at his girlfriend and her father, looking all warm and happy. Nate was on the opposite couch with Sophie, neither touching the other, but both looking very pleased to be close again. Hardison and Mac were at the table, both concentrating on their computer screens so hard, and yet obviously enjoying each others company at the same time, laughing and sharing a fist bump over the lids of their laptops.

"It's nice," Parker sighed then, "when everybody's happy. They all belong."

"It's not like you don't," Eliot told her, leaning beside her on the rail, close enough that his shoulder bumped hers when he shifted his weight. "Logan's your brother, you're a part of that family, and... and you're a part of our family, y'know, the team."

It was weird and unnatural for him to have to be this mushy about things. It really wasn't Eliot Spencer's style, and yet he did mean what he was saying. He honestly couldn't imagine the team without Parker in it. He sure didn't want to imagine living his life without her smile, her laugh, her crazy antics, and her nutty non-sequitars. Life just wouldn't be normal, without her own special brand of crazy.

"I had a brother once," she said with a barely audible sniffle. "Just a foster brother, but I... He mattered a lot to me, and then he died and... and I thought that was it, no more family for me."

"I'm sorry," Eliot told her, not minding at all when Parker's head came to rest on his shoulder. "But look at all the family you have now. Blood or not, all those people in there care about you Parker, and that's a good thing. You don't need to be afraid of that."

"I know," she nodded against his shoulder. "I guess I kinda have two brothers now, two sisters, and Nate and Sophie are almost like having parents..."

Eliot smirked at that but didn't say a word. Sophie would pitch a fit if she knew Parker saw Momma when she looked at her, not because she didn't love the thief, just because age-wise it wouldn't be altogether flattering.

"Maybe I can make Keith like an uncle type," Parker continued, and Eliot's math told him they were coming up one body short. "That just leaves you, I guess," she said then, turning her face towards him.

"What? I don't fall into the brother list?" he asked, not sure why it felt wrong even suggesting such a thing.

Parker's frown was neither comforting nor encouraging. She looked at him as if he were a bug under a microscope. Her head came up off his shoulder and she stared a long moment. She was trying to find him a role in her family portrait and finding it all too difficult apparently.

"Nope," she said eventually, shaking her head. "It'd be too weird if you were my brother. I mean, it's way too much fun to look at you mostly naked. That's not very sister and brotherly," she said, screwing up her face at the very idea. "Besides, I kinda had a plan and it's not gonna work if you're my brother."

"What kinda plan?" asked Eliot curiously, though his brain was still a little stuck on the naked comment from before if he were honest.

Parker looked away, first at the view over the city, and then a back into the hotel room. She shifted her feet a minute, and then suddenly she pounced. She came at Eliot so fast he almost didn't register in time before her lips were on his in a searing kiss. Just as fast it was over and by the time he opened his eyes, which Eliot had hardly noticed he closed at all, Parker was gone.

* * *

"I'm not kidding, girl, you got some mad skillz up in there!" said Hardison, even as Mac ducked her face behind her hair to hide the blush rising in her cheeks. "I was blocking left, blocking right... I was seriously startin' to worry about Parker bein' found."

"If I'd realised who I was up against, I'm not so sure I even would've tried to out-fox you," she told him, immediately wondering if her choice of words was the best when he grinned too widely at her.

"Mama, you could out-fox any woman I ever met, that much is for sure," he chuckled, knowing that was not what she meant but not wanting to miss the chance at complimenting her.

Cindy Mackenzie was like no other woman he ever met, that was for sure. Hardison had met a lot of geeks in his time, and it was true that some of them were female, but the percentage tended to be smaller, especially amongst the real hard-core geeks. When it came to hackers, even less seemed to be women, but now he found the best he ever met of the opposing gender, and honestly, he was so impressed. Not only was she highly skilled, she was hot as hell with it, and yet didn't seem to know it somehow. The fact she liked him too, was pretty much in awe of the things he had done in his life, that was all just a bonus to Alec Hardison.

"So, is it true that you...?" she began to ask then,.

"Yes," he replied immediately before she even got the question out. "Whatever story you heard, it probably was me, _probably_," he emphasised. "Of course I can neither confirm nor deny anything that might incriminate myself," he said with a smile that was just infectious to her.

Mac's luck with guys was spotty at best, but Alec really did seem like a good guy. It was pretty shocking to think he could be this friendly and sweet when she knew for sure he was a criminal. Tech fraud was big business these days and getting mixed up with a guy like him wouldn't exactly be a sensible choice. At the same time, he was playing for the good guys these days, and technically doing no worse than she was when she hacked into classified places for Veronica and her dad to crack a case. Besides, Mac couldn't help but think that even if Hardison was still a 'black hat', she had dated far worse in the past. The very idea of it made her shudder involuntarily. Trust Hardison to notice.

"Hey, you feelin' cold?" he checked. "This aircon got a mind of it's own," he said then, reaching for the remote to adjust the settings.

It made Mac smile, how thoughtful and sweet he was with her. Of course, he was probably like that with everybody. She had noticed him paying a lot of attention to Parker's well-being when they were working together. Mac almost wondered if something was going on there, except for the fact that Parker and Eliot seemed to spend more time together than anyone. Her curiousity got the better of her then. Keeping her eyes on the screen of her laptop as she typed randomly on the keyboard, Mac asked what she really wanted to know.

"So, Parker and Eliot are dating, right?" she said almost completey innocently.

"Not that I know about," Hardison shrugged, taking a look at his own screen when he realised he needed to finish connecting a few dots for this latest job. "'Course I been wonderin' for a while about those two. That's why..."

"That's why, what?" Mac prompted when he stopped so suddenly.

"I, er... I backed off," he shrugged. "See for a while, I thought me and Parker, that we'd make a couple, y'know? But she... she awesome, she's just not... I'm not what she wants and definitely not what she _needs_," he sighed. "I got over it," he shrugged, smiling again now as he met Mac's eyes. "Gave up on her 'cause I knew someday I'd meet the girl that's _my_ perfect fit, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know" Mac agreed, trying not to blush again as she grinned back at him.

She was grateful for the nearby ringing of Veronica's phone that got everybody's attention, since it meant she could look away from Alec's intense gaze. It was ridiculous to think that he might really like her, that they could actually make a relationship work, but it might be fun to give it a try. Besides, after all that had gone before, Mac didn't feel she had very much left to lose where dating was concerned.

* * *

When Eliot headed back into the hotel room from the balcony, he arrived just in time to see Parker practically hiding behind Logan on the couch, and to see Veronica frowning into her cell phone.

"Yes, sir," the young P.I. was saying, presumably to the same FBI contact she had called from the warehouse. "I appreciate the update. Thank you, sir."

The call ended and she looked at Nate with suspicious eyes. The mastermind wouldn't return her gaze, concentrating entirely on pouring another healthy slug of scotch for himself and a martini for Sophie.

"I don't understand," the young P.I. shook her head.

"Carling didn't get stopped at the border?" her father asked worriedly.

"No, he did, but they didn't catch him with just the money he stole," Veronica explained. "He's been arrested for murder."

"Jenson," Mac threw in from her place at the table. "He... he shot him, we saw it," she reminded everyone.

"Yeah, but how did the border agents know that?" asked Eliot, looking as suspicious as Veronica by now.

Nate looked around the room with a smirk he couldn't help, and then explained.

_**Flashback**_ - _August 15th, 2009, 16:11 PST - Los Angeles, California._

Out of the car again, Parker pelted back past Nate and Veronica towards the van. Much like a tag team, the young P.I. took her queue and pulled the radio transmitter up to her lips.

"This if FBI Agent Mars," her voice boomed over the tannoy system all around the warehouse district. "Gerald Carling, come out with your hands on your head."

The moment he was looking around for the disembodied voice, Logan and Eliot struck.

Nate took the opportunity of everyone being distracted and shot around back of the warehouse. Lifting Jenson's body into the trunk of Carling's car wasn't too much trouble. The gun shot wound was pretty clean, not gushing so much blood as to make a mess of Nate's suit. Parker never knew why he asked her to leave the car this way, but the mastermind never left anything to chance. Carling might be able to talk his way out of the money, even the kidnapping. Nobody could talk their way out of a body in the trunk.

_August 15th, 2009, 20:22 PST - Los Angeles, California._

Most of the assembled team looked a little green about the gills, mostly Sophie, Mac, and Hardison truth be told. Eliot almost looked a little proud of what Nate had pulled, but he didn't say a word.

"Can't deny it was a dope plan," Hardison considered. "And since I already emptied out both Jenson and Carlings accounts while the whole warehouse show-down was happening," he stopped when Mac pretended to clear her throat. "I'm sorry, mama. _We_ did that," he corrected himself with a smile. "It ain't like the man can even buy himself out of jail."

"So we got the bad guys," said Logan with a grin he couldn't help. "I say we celebrate."

"Does this _kid_ never run out of energy?" the hitter rolled his eyes, but he was smiling when he said it.

Veronica laughed, Parker did too, though there was a very odd look on her face when she realised Eliot was looking at her. The kissing thing, they could talk about that later. For now, Logan was right, they should celebrate the win. The bad guys were gone, the money would soon be back to the people who lost it, and here they were, one ridiculous kind of hybrid happy family. Yeah, it was worth a little celebration at least, no doubt.

_August 18th, 2009, 09:11 PST - Los Angeles, California._

They were cutting it fine and they knew it.

When Hardison booked up the flights to take the team back to Boston, he hadn't counted on Eliot's sudden plan regarding DNA tests. The truth was, it didn't seem to have occurred to anyone else to check Logan was legit. Parker seemed convinced by his story, mostly because he knew her real name apparently, but moreover she was trusting her instincts.

Eliot had no real problem with Logan himself. He proved he had some guts, going into that warehouse full of thugs, facing down a guy with a gun. He was also being really patient and kind with Parker so far. He just wanted to make a family connection, and Eliot could understand that. Still, when Nate mentioned in passing that maybe a little cast iron proof wouldn't hurt, the hitter offered the services of a doc he knew that owed him a favour.

Nate didn't ask why the good doctor would owe one to a guy like Eliot, especially when he saw the stunning blonde walking down the hall towards them. He just looked at his team-mate and rolled his eyes as Eliot smirked. He had been right not to ask apparently.

Logan and Parker didn't argue. Well, Parker did ask if it was going to hurt and once she was assured it was nothing but a quick cheek swab, she calmed down. She said it would be cool to have real proof that she had a kid brother. For once, Logan made no comment about being referred to as a kid, he just smiled.

The flight to take the Leverage crew home left at noon. It was past nine and they had to make it to the airport and check in yet. Worst came to worst Hardison could probably screw with the computers and delay the flight, but they would have to prise him away from Mac first, albeit via text messages and Twitter DMs.

Keith wanted to go right on back to Neptune the morning after the con when Eliot cleared him health-wise. Veronica was torn, but ultimately needed to go with her Dad. Logan encouraged her in that and said he would be fine in L.A. for a couple of days. He just wanted to spend some time with his sister whilst he had the chance. Parker and her team were reluctant to go to Neptune for a visit, being such a small town and them being the kind of people they were. One day Parker could go alone maybe, but Nate put his foot down about them all going together.

Mac had opted to go back to Neptune with the Mars, but she and Hardison promised to stay in touch. The team's hacker made a big deal about the two of them being friends with a healthy respect for each others skills. His crew knew better, of course. The guy was smitten, and if he wasn't, Mac certainly was. Sophie was sure they would be seeing a lot more of Miss Mackenzie before long, even if for the most part it was via a computer link. She could yet be a valuable asset, and not just for jobs. The grifter had noticed how much closer Eliot and Parker were lately, especially since all this stuff with the mystery hacker and the surprise brother began. That might've caused Hardison some pain once upon a time, but these days, maybe not. Even now as they sat in the private hospital room, their usual team of five plus Logan, Parker had her head on Eliot's shoulder. She wondered if the little thief even knew she was doing it.

"C'mon, man. Where your doctor at?" asked Hardison, his knee bouncing with frustration as he checked his watch again. "How long does it take to check one DNA sample against another?"

"Longer that you think, obviously," the hitter growled across at him.

"Now I just hope I haven't made some big ass mistake," said Logan with a smile that suited his semi-joke. "I mean, how embarrassed would I be?"

"I'm sure the result will be what everyone wants to hear," Sophie told him kindly. "You know, I think I can even see a family resemblance..." she added, tilting her head as she looked from Logan to Parker and back.

That made the thief look at her supposed half-brother in much the same concentrated way. She didn't think she looked much like Logan or that he looked much like her. Maybe it took an outside perspective, or maybe this really was all one big mistake. That would really suck. The last few days, she and Logan had talked. Not a lot, because she wasn't really much for the talking anyway, but when they had spent time together it had been fun. Logan never looked at her like a freak or called her crazy in a nasty way. The things he had done, he was almost as wild as she could be. He'd been arrested a whole lot, that was for sure! She had to teach him sometime how to do this stuff without getting caught.

"What?" he asked with a look when she suddenly grinned at him.

"I don't know," she shrugged.

Just at that moment, Eliot's doctor friend appeared. She apologised for the delay, and then handed an envelope to the hitter as he stood to meet her. She whispered something in his ear that made him smirk, and then she was gone.

Parker leapt out of her chair and bounced like a bug on a hot plate.

"So, tell me! Tell me!" she urged him.

"Calm down, darlin'," the hitter told her gently, encouraging her back into her seat.

It was Logan who got the shock then as Parker's hand grabbed at his own and held on tight. She wasn't the touchy feely type, not at all. Eliot had said as much when they all met in the beginning and Parker had proven it every day since. She didn't hug, she didn't touch in any way. Half the time, she barely even made eye contact when she talked to him. It was like trying to make friends with the shyest little girl on the planet, and yet Parker was such a confident young woman in so many other ways, she just wasn't good with people.

Logan held on just as tight as Parker, hoping more than ever that there was no mistake here. He had loved the idea of having a half-sister, and he certainly liked the woman she had turned out to be, however crazy she was sometimes. This result had to be right, it just had to.

"Okay," said Eliot as he pulled a card out of the envelope in his hand.

Sophie tried to read over his shoulder, but Nate pulled her away, shaking his head. This was not her secret to know first, not her moment for a change. This was about Parker and a family she never thought to have but might just have found at last.

"Congratulations, guys," smiled Eliot then as he held out the card for both Parker and Logan to see. "You're half brother and sister."

Neither of them knew what to say to that. Logan laughed, more out of nerves than anything he supposed. Parker didn't speak, didn't blink, never moved a muscle. Eliot was about to ask her if she was okay when suddenly the unthinkable happened. Out of nowhere, she flung herself to her right, her arms tight around Logan like he was the rock to keep her from drowning. Her proven younger brother was more than a little shocked, but in a second had his arms around her too, hugging her back like his life depended on it too. He had really found his sister, a piece of a broken family he could actually hold onto a while. It felt like coming home.

_August 18th, 2009, 12:28 PST - LAX Airport, Los Angeles, California._

They were in the line to board and Parker was still smiling. Eliot had half expected her to be in tears when it came to leaving Logan behind. It was weird because she usually showed little in the way of emotions. Even trying to imagine Parker all out crying seemed weird, and yet the way she had hugged Logan so tight when she realised he really genuinely was her brother, it proved how much it truly meant to her.

"That's an awful big grin for a girl that's leaving town and her brother behind," he said, almost not wanting to bring it up now but way too curious about her over-the-top smiling to just let it go.

"It's fine," she shrugged. "We have phones, email, and he's gonna visit soon. I can visit him too. It's not an ending, it's a beginning."

It was a very philosophical thing to say and Eliot was pretty sure she hadn't come up with it herself. Probably something encouraging Sophie had told her, or even Nate. It was much more their style than Parker's own. Still, the fact she was feeling so positive made Eliot want to grin just the same as his thief friend was.

There he went again, thinking of her as a friend, when in fact she was so much more. A couple of days ago now, Parker had stood on the balcony at the hotel and assigned every member of their crew plus Logan, Veronica, Keith, and Mac, to roles in her self-made family. Eliot didn't have a place in that. She didn't want him to be her brother, even though he had been known to be as protective as an older sibling might indeed be. His feelings for her weren't entirely that way inclined, and Parker certainly proved she wasn't thinking of Eliot in a sisterly way when she laid one on him.

From that day to this moment neither of them mentioned that kiss. He was waiting for her to bring it up, but of course she never did. Mostly they had been hanging out as a group or she had been alone with Logan, doing the connecting thing. Eliot and Parker had not been completely alone until this very minute. Hardison, Nate and Sophie had already gone through the gate and they were the two left behind in line whilst the one person who had gotten in between the members of the team made a fuss about something or other.

Eliot itched to ask Parker what that kiss meant, if it meant anything, but he wouldn't. Chicks needed to define relationships that barely existed or whatever, and Eliot was a man for crying out loud. So Parker kissed him, so what? It didn't make any difference, he told himself, and yet he knew very well that it did.

"So, you didn't tell the others what happened, right?" asked Parker, right out of the blue like she asked most things.

"Didn't tell 'em what?" he asked curiously, not even considering that she had been thinking about the self same thing that was on his mind.

"C'mon, Eliot," she rolled her eyes. "I know I freaked you out when I kissed you."

The hitter scoffed openly at that.

"Takes more than you and your lips to freak me out, sweetheart," he told her, all Southern drawl and a smirk that had melted many a woman in his time. "You did surprise me, I'll give you that," he admitted then, "but then you always do."

"That's a good thing, right?" she asked, frowning a little as she thought about it. "I mean, not surprising you wouldn't really be me, and you'd get bored. Those other girls you date are always gone after one night or maybe a week sometimes, but that's all, and I want us to be together way longer than that..."

She didn't get any further in what she meant to say. Eliot was nothing if not good at taking the initiative and acting on instinct. Parker thought she freaked him out with her kiss a couple of days back. He definitely knocked the breath out of her in the same way right now, and she didn't seem to want to complain either. She was adorable and sweet, beautiful and sexy. Everything he ever wanted in a woman and never knew he had until that moment when she was practically signing them up for the long haul without so much as asking how he felt about it. She may be Logan's sister, Archie's prodigy, the team's master thief, but she was his girl, his Parker.

"Hey, c'mon, pal!" said the next person in line, tapping Eliot on the shoulder.

The hitter growled as he pulled out of his kiss with Parker. She giggled at his expression and then turned back around to hand over her boarding pass. Her hand slipped into Eliot's the first moment she could manage it and they headed for the plane just like that.

This job and the trip that went with it sure had been an adventure. Parker liked knowing that not only had the con been successful but that she had more family than she'd ever known right now. There was her team, her new boyfriend, plus a real blood half-brother, and his family and friends too. They all cared about Parker, and she cared about them, in a way she never really knew she could. Yeah, these last few days were going to be marked down as some of her favourites so far. If only she had gotten the chance to steal a diamond this trip, it would have officially been the best job ever!

The End

**A/N: If you read all of this and you liked it, or even if you think it's flawed in some way, I'd love to receive your opinions in a review. Both praise and constructive criticism are most welcome :)**


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